SB 18-089

Senate Bill 18-089 in Colorado updates the law on hazing by making it illegal not just to cause physical harm but also emotional and psychological damage. The bill expands the definition of hazing to include actions taken by adult organizations and those that happen anywhere, whether public or private property. It also allows someone accused of hazing to argue in court that they were forced to haze others because they themselves had been hazed previously. Since the status is "signed," this means the bill has been approved by both houses of the legislature and signed into law by the governor, so it's now enforceable as part of Colorado’s criminal laws.

Official Summary

The bill amends the criminal act of hazing to include emotional and psychological, as well as physical, harm. The bill also extends the crime of hazing to actions involving adult organizations and those actions that occur on public or private property. An affirmative defense is added that provides a means for a person who is charged with hazing to attempt to prove that he or she was, at the time of the offense, also a victim of hazing and as such was forced to commit the activity that constituted hazing of another individual.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More