Massachusetts Bans Hazing of Students After Fatal Incident

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis has signed a law imposing criminal penalties for the hazing of students at Massachusetts schools.

“This is the kind of conduct we’re not going to tolerate in this state,” Dukakis said Tuesday at a signing ceremony. He was accompanied by Mary Lenaghan, whose son was killed in a hazing incident at American International College in Springfield last year.

The law calls for penalties of up to 100 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone who endangers the health of a high school or college student through “forced calisthenics, exposure to the weather, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any other brutal treatment.”