by Geoff Rushton

Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and the parents of Timothy Piazza will hold a news conference on Friday to discuss what Corman’s office describes as “groundbreaking” new anti-hazing legislation.

Corman and the Piazza family will speak at noon on the steps of the Centre County Courthouse about the introduction of “comprehensive legislation designed to put an end to the growing number of hazing injuries and deaths in Pennsylvania.”

The news conference will take place on the same day as a second preliminary hearing begins for 11 former Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers facing refiled charges in connection with Timothy Piazza’s death.

Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore from Lebanon, N.J., died from brain injuries on Feb. 4, 2017 after sustaining multiple falls during an alcohol-fueled pledge event at the now-banned Penn State fraternity. Piazza allegedly was given 18 alcoholic drinks in a period of 82 minutes on the night of Feb. 2. He fell for the first time, head-first down the basement stairs, just after 11 p.m., but fraternity members did not call for medical help until 10:48 a.m. the next day.

A total of 26 defendants face charges in the case.

Since his death, the Piazza family has called for tougher hazing laws, among other reform measures.

Penn State officials also have made hazing laws a focus of their efforts to reform Greek life and dangerous drinking, and have been working with Corman and other legislators to increase penalties as well.

In Pennsylvania, the hazing law is part of the Education Act, not the Crimes Code, and is graded a third-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence of one-year imprisonment and a $2,500 fine.

After a Centre County Grand Jury’s criminal investigation yielded the initial charges in the Piazza case, a subsequent investigation into Penn State fraternity culture resulted in a report issued in December that included recommendations for stronger hazing laws.

The report proposed “Tim’s Law,” which would be a “multi-tiered” system in which the punishment reflects the result of the hazing.

The proposed law would make it a first-degree misdemeanor for any hazing that “causes or risks causing bodily injury,” a second degree felony for hazing that “causes or risks causing serious bodily injury,” and a first-degree felony for hazing that “results in the death of the victim.”

There would be heavier penalties for repeat offenders and a “special enhancement” for cases involving a deadly or offensive weapon, including in a bat or a paddle.