TRENTON – A bill to increase the penalties for hazing rituals is advancing in the state Assembly.
The bill, passed out of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, upgrades hazing from a disorderly persons offense heard in municipal court to a fourth-degree crime heard in Superior Court. Aggravated hazing is upgraded to a third-degree crime.
The bills were prompted by the death of Readington resident and Hunterdon Central graduate Tim Piazza, who died after fraternity hazing at Penn State University in 2017.
Piazza fell down a flight of stairs in a fraternity house after participating in drinking games as part of the pledging process. Not only were he and other pledges encouraged to drink heavily throughout the night, but the fraternity members did not seek medical treatment for Piazza until the next morning. He died at the hospital.
Lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy rushed last spring to protect hospitals and nursing homes from lawsuits as they faced an onslaught of COVID-19 patients and the unprecedented challenge of caring for them.
More than a year later, and far from the dire circumstances of the first wave, New Jersey s political leaders are not eager to scale back the protections, even though nearby states have lifted theirs and advocates, lawyers and a small group of lawmakers here say they are no longer needed.
As a result, countless families have virtually no legal recourse to hold health care facilities accountable for deaths or injuries related to COVID-19 as long as Murphy keeps his health emergency order in place.
NJBCTC PRESIDENT STATEMENT PLA EXPANSION EFFORT BECOMING LAW May 3, 2021, 11:02 am | in
NJBCTC PRESIDENT STATEMENT PLA EXPANSION EFFORT BECOMING LAW
CLARK – William T. Mullen, President of the New Jersey Building & Construction Trades Council
today released the following statement on a measure to expand the use of Project Labor Agreements
(S3414/A5378) being signed into law:
“Friday was a great day for all the hard-working men and women of the building trades. Opportunities to secure union jobs provide a pathway to the middle class for tens of thousands of New Jersey residents and ensure the next generation of construction workers remain the best trained, equipped, and safest workforce.”