Hazing Defense Lawyer for College Students in Northampton & Lehigh County

Scope. This page is for college students accused of hazing, and for their parents, in Easton, Bethlehem and the rest of Northampton and Lehigh Counties, including students at Lafayette College and Lehigh University. It explains:

• what Pennsylvania's antihazing law makes a crime, and the penalties;
• other charges that can come with a hazing case;
• how the campus conduct process at Lafayette and Lehigh runs alongside a criminal case;
• the 911 safe harbor;
• what to do first, and what to avoid.

The student, not the parent, is the client. This is general information, not legal advice about a particular case. Official sources were checked on October 3, 2026.

The short version

• Hazing is a crime even when the new member agreed. Pennsylvania's Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law makes it a crime to cause, coerce or force a student into dangerous or degrading activity as part of joining a group or keeping membership or status in it. Consent is not a defense, and neither is approval by the school or the organization.
• The grade depends on the harm. Hazing is a summary offense, or a third-degree misdemeanor if it results in or creates a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury. Aggravated hazing, which involves serious bodily injury or death, is a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
• Other charges can come with it, including furnishing alcohol to people under 21, recklessly endangering another person, and separate crimes for destroying evidence or pressuring witnesses.
• The college runs its own case. Lafayette and Lehigh can discipline students for hazing on or off campus, whether or not police act, and Pennsylvania law lets colleges impose penalties up to expulsion. Lafayette does not allow lawyers to serve as advisers in its conduct process. Lehigh allows one only when criminal charges are pending, and then only to advise quietly.
• Campus police are police. Both schools have commissioned police officers with arrest powers.
• Calling 911 can be protected. A student who calls for help in a medical emergency, gives their own name and stays with the person until help arrives can be immune from prosecution under the hazing law, within limits.
• The first step is the same in every case. If anyone may need medical help, call 911 first and give responders what they need to help the person. Beyond that, say nothing about the incident to police, the school or the group chat until you have advice, and delete nothing.

Who this page is for

This page is for a college student who has been contacted by police, campus public safety or a conduct office about hazing, named in a report, or charged, and for the parents trying to help. Parents often make the first call and may pay for the defense, but the lawyer's duties run to the student. Pennsylvania's ethics rules allow a lawyer to accept payment from someone other than the client only if the client gives informed consent, there is no interference with the lawyer's independent judgment or the lawyer-client relationship, and the client's information stays protected. Pa.R.P.C. 1.8(f).

If the accused student is under 18, start with our juvenile defense page; different rules apply.

What Pennsylvania's antihazing law makes a crime

Pennsylvania's antihazing law is the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law, Act 80 of 2018, now 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2801–2811. It is named for a Penn State fraternity pledge "who died in February 2017 after a night of hazing."

Hazing

A person commits hazing if the person "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly, for the purpose of initiating, admitting or affiliating a minor or student into or with an organization, or for the purpose of continuing or enhancing a minor or student's membership or status in an organization, causes, coerces or forces a minor or student" to do any of the following. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2802(a).

• Violate federal or state criminal law.
• "Consume any food, liquid, alcoholic liquid, drug or other substance which subjects the minor or student to a risk of emotional or physical harm."
• Endure physical brutality, "including whipping, beating, branding, calisthenics or exposure to the elements."
• Endure mental brutality, including "activity adversely affecting the mental health or dignity of the individual, sleep deprivation, exclusion from social contact or conduct that could result in extreme embarrassment."
• Endure brutality of a sexual nature.
• Endure "any other activity that creates a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to the minor or student."

The law has one express limit: "Hazing shall not include reasonable and customary athletic, law enforcement or military training, contests, competitions or events." § 2802(c).

Three definitions make the law broader than many students expect. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2801.

• "Organization" includes "[a] fraternity, sorority, association, corporation, order, society, corps, club or service, social or similar group, whose members are primarily minors, students or alumni of the organization, an institution or secondary school," and the national or international organization it is affiliated with.
• "Student" includes someone who "has applied to attend or has been admitted to" a school, not only current students.
• "Minor" in this chapter means "[a]n individual younger than 18 years of age."

Grading. "Except as provided under paragraph (2), hazing is a summary offense." It is a third-degree misdemeanor "if it results in or creates a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to the minor or student." § 2802(b).

Aggravated hazing

Hazing becomes aggravated hazing when it "results in serious bodily injury or death to the minor or student" and the person either "acts with reckless indifference to the health and safety of the minor or student" or "causes, coerces or forces the consumption of an alcoholic liquid or drug by the minor or student." "Aggravated hazing shall be a felony of the third degree." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2803.

Consent and approval are not defenses

"It shall not be a defense to any offense under this chapter" that "[t]he consent of the minor or student was sought or obtained" or that "[t]he conduct was sanctioned or approved by the institution, secondary school or organization." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2806. Arguments that everyone agreed, or that the chapter has always done it, do not answer the charge.

Organizations can be charged too

An organization that "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly promotes or facilitates" hazing commits organizational hazing. It faces "[a] fine of not more than $5,000 for each violation of section 2802" and "[a] fine of not more than $15,000 for each violation of section 2803," plus other relief the court considers equitable. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2804. After a conviction for aggravated or organizational hazing, the court may order forfeiture of "property which was involved in the violation." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2807.

The chapter's interests and a member's interests can split. A lawyer retained to represent a chapter or a national organization "represents the organization acting through its duly authorized constituents." That lawyer may also represent a member only if the conflict-of-interest rules allow it, and must explain whom the lawyer represents when the organization's interests are adverse to a member's. Pa.R.P.C. 1.13(a), (d), (e). A student under investigation should consider separate counsel.

The maximum penalties

These are ordinary statutory maximums for adult defendants, not predictions. Section 1101(8) can authorize a higher fine based on twice the pecuniary gain from the offense. A sentence depends on the facts, the student's record and Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines. 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1103, 1104, 1105, 2802–2804.

Other charges that can come with a hazing case

• Alcohol. Furnishing alcohol to anyone under 21 is a third-degree misdemeanor with a mandatory fine of at least $1,000. 18 Pa.C.S. § 6310.1. Our guide to teens, alcohol and parties explains the furnishing and underage-drinking laws.
• Endangerment. A person who "recklessly engages in conduct which places or may place another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury" commits recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2705.
• Injuries. When someone is hurt, prosecutors may also look at assault charges. See our pages on simple assault and aggravated assault.
• Destroying evidence. It is a second-degree misdemeanor for a person who believes an official proceeding or investigation "is pending or about to be instituted" to alter, destroy, conceal or remove "any record, document or thing with intent to impair its verity or availability." 18 Pa.C.S. § 4910. Deleting a group chat, photos or videos after someone is hurt can become its own charge.
• Pressuring witnesses. Intimidating a witness or victim to "[r]efrain from informing or reporting to any law enforcement officer" or to "[g]ive any false or misleading information" is a separate crime. 18 Pa.C.S. § 4952. Members should not try to shape what new members or other witnesses will say.

The campus case at Lafayette and Lehigh

Pennsylvania requires every college to adopt a written antihazing policy, and that policy must reach hazing on or off campus. Campus penalties may include fines, "[t]he withholding of diplomas or transcripts pending compliance with the rules or payment of fines," and "[t]he imposition of probation, suspension, dismissal or expulsion." They come "in addition to" any criminal penalty. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2808(b).

What this means in practice:

• Two cases, one set of facts. The campus case and any criminal case can run at the same time, on different rules and different timelines.
• Campus statements are not privileged. What a student tells a conduct officer or campus police is not protected the way a conversation with the student's own lawyer is. At Lafayette, "Public Safety will conduct the investigation" of hazing allegations. Records a campus police department creates and keeps for law-enforcement purposes are not FERPA education records. Records it makes only for the discipline process, and copies kept by the conduct office, are education records, but even those can be released "to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena," ordinarily after the school tries to notify the student. 34 C.F.R. §§ 99.3, 99.8, 99.31(a)(9).
• Silence has limits on campus. At Lafayette, "No party can be compelled to answer questions," and at Lehigh, "Respondents are not required to make statements or answer questions." But the case goes forward on the other evidence, and ignoring an official's directive (Lafayette) or failing to appear when called (Lehigh) can be a separate violation. Lehigh's code also prohibits "[f]ailure to report and/or knowingly being in the presence of violations," so a bystander can face a campus charge. Respond to every notice and deadline, and get advice promptly, before giving any statement.
• A lawyer still helps, even without speaking at the hearing. Counsel can advise before and between campus meetings, help the student prepare a written response, and keep the campus case from undercutting the criminal defense.

Public hazing reports

Pennsylvania requires each college to keep a report of hazing violations and update it "biannually on January 1 and August 1." The law also says: "The report shall not include the personal identifying information of an individual." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2809. Federal law adds a Campus Hazing Transparency Report on student organizations established or recognized by the institution that are found responsible for hazing. A college need not develop the report until it has a hazing finding; updates are required at least twice a year for periods with findings. The report "shall not include any personally identifiable information, including any information that would reveal personally identifiable information, about any individual student." 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(9). Colleges must also count hazing incidents in the crime statistics in their annual security reports. Federal Student Aid Handbook, vol. 2, ch. 6.

These reports can make an organization's name, its violation and its sanctions public, but they should not name individual students. A criminal charge against an adult is different: Pennsylvania's court records are generally open to the public. Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania § 3.0.

If someone needed help: the 911 safe harbor

The hazing law protects people who call for help. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2810, a person cannot be prosecuted for an offense under the hazing law if the person can establish all of these:

• police "first became aware of the individual's violation of this chapter because the individual placed a 911 call or contacted campus security, police or emergency services, based on a reasonable belief that another individual was in need of immediate medical attention to prevent death or serious bodily injury";
• the caller "reasonably believed the individual was the first individual to make a 911 call or contact campus security, police or emergency services and report that an individual needed immediate medical attention to prevent death or serious bodily injury";
• the caller "provided the individual's own name to the 911 operator or equivalent campus security officer, police or emergency services personnel";
• the caller "remained with the individual needing medical assistance until a campus security officer, police or emergency services personnel arrived and the need for the individual's presence had ended."

Limits.

• Under the hazing law, the person who needed help is protected from hazing and underage-drinking charges only if the person who reported and stayed could have been charged with hazing and qualifies for the safe harbor. § 2810(b). The separate underage-drinking safe harbor, explained in our guide to teens, alcohol and parties, can still protect that person from an underage-drinking charge. 18 Pa.C.S. § 6308.1(b).
• The safe harbor does not apply if police learned of the offense "prior to and independent of" the call. It does not stop a prosecution "for a crime other than an offense under this chapter or section 6308(a)," such as furnishing alcohol or assault. § 2810(c)(1)–(2).
• Evidence from the call can still be used to prosecute other crimes, and to prosecute anyone who does not independently qualify for the safe harbor. § 2810(c)(3)–(4).

Campus amnesty policies are narrower than they sound. Lafayette's Good Samaritan Policy covers alcohol and drug situations and "does not extend to related infractions such as assault or property damage." Lafayette's Anti-Hazing Policy adds that, "[a]lthough policy violations cannot be overlooked, the College may provide purely educational options with no official disciplinary finding, rather than punitive sanctions, to those who offer their assistance to others in need." Lehigh's Medical Amnesty Policy covers code violations "related to that consumption," and it says an organization "can and will be held accountable for any other violations of the Code of Conduct related to the incident." None of these policies promises to cover a hazing charge, and Lehigh's says it "does not grant amnesty for criminal, civil, or legal consequences." Lafayette Code of Conduct; Lafayette Anti-Hazing Policy; Lehigh Medical Amnesty Policy.

The message for every student is the same: if someone may be in danger, call 911, give your own name and stay with the person until you are no longer needed.

What to do first

• Say nothing about the incident until you have advice, except to get emergency help for someone who needs it. That includes police, campus public safety, the conduct office, other members and the group chat. Our guide, Should I Talk to the Police Without a Lawyer in Pennsylvania?, explains how to decline questioning and why a phone search deserves particular care.
• Delete nothing, and ask no one else to. Keep messages, photos, videos and posts exactly as they are. Deleting them when you believe an official investigation or proceeding is underway or about to begin, with the intent to impair their truthfulness or availability, can be charged as tampering with evidence.
• Do not contact the new members or other witnesses about what they will say.
• Ask who a lawyer represents. A lawyer retained to represent the chapter or the national organization represents that organization. That lawyer can represent the student too only if the conflict rules allow it and the student gives informed consent.
• Keep every paper, including police cards, citations, complaints, subpoenas, campus notices and interim-measure letters, and calendar every deadline.
• Parents: support, don't investigate. The attorney-client privilege covers the student's confidential communications with the student's lawyer; it does not cover what the student tells a parent. 42 Pa.C.S. § 5916. Leave the facts to that conversation, and ask the lawyer before sitting in on it.

How cases move in Northampton and Lehigh County

• Summary hazing. A summary charge is usually filed as a citation before a magisterial district judge. The statewide citation form tells the defendant to respond "Within TEN (10) days of the issuance or receipt of this citation/summons." Pennsylvania non-traffic citation form. Neither county's summary ARD program lists hazing. Northampton County's list of eligible summary cases does not include it, and Lehigh County's Local Rule 300 limits summary ARD before district judges to underage-drinking offenses. Northampton County summary ARD; Lehigh County local criminal rules.
• Misdemeanor and felony hazing. These cases begin with a criminal complaint or, sometimes, an arrest without a warrant. When the complaint comes first, a felony charge brings an arrest warrant; a misdemeanor case may begin with a summons instead. Pa.R.Crim.P. 502, 509. An arrested student ordinarily goes through a preliminary arraignment, where bail is set, and the case is usually scheduled for a preliminary hearing. Release without preliminary arraignment, waiver and other exceptions can change that sequence. Our Northampton County and Lehigh County criminal-procedure guides, the first 48 hours guide and the bail guide explain each step.
• Diversion. A misdemeanor or felony case may be considered for ARD, a discretionary pretrial program. Our non-DUI ARD page explains how admission works.

Records and lasting consequences

• Public reports. College hazing reports should not identify individual students, but an organization's violations and sanctions can be public. § 2809; 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(9). Adult criminal court records are generally public.
• Criminal records. A summary conviction may be expunged after the person "has been free of arrest or prosecution for five years following the conviction for that offense." 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(b)(3). Other outcomes have other paths; our record-clearing page compares them.
• A felony conviction. Aggravated hazing carries up to seven years, so a conviction generally triggers the federal ban on possessing firearms for anyone convicted of "a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
• Civil lawsuits. "Nothing in this chapter precludes a civil remedy otherwise provided by law." 18 Pa.C.S. § 2811. A hazing case can lead to a lawsuit as well as a prosecution.
• School records. A college can withhold a diploma or transcript "pending compliance with the rules or payment of fines." § 2808(b)(2)(ii).

How a lawyer helps

• Before anyone talks. Advise the student before police or campus interviews, and handle contact with investigators.
• The evidence. Preserve the student's own messages and timeline, identify witnesses, and test what each person actually did against what the statute requires.
• The safe harbor. Determine whether § 2810 applies, and what it does and does not cover.
• Both tracks. Prepare the student for the campus process and keep it consistent with the criminal defense.
• The criminal case. Challenge the grading, negotiate with prosecutors, pursue diversion where it is available, or try the case.
• Afterward. Clear the record when the law allows it.

What to bring to a consultation

• Every paper: police cards, citations, complaints, subpoenas, campus notices, interim-measure letters and hearing notices.
• A written timeline: dates, places, who was present, and what the student did and did not do.
• The student's own messages, photos and posts, preserved as they are.
• The organization's details: the chapter, team or club, its national organization, and any lawyer the organization has offered.
• The campus documents: the policy sections the school cites and every deadline it has set.