22 NIU Fraternity Brothers Convicted

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150508/news/150508898/

misdemeanor and no jail time…ridiculous.

I don’t want to ruin their lives with a felony conviction but 100 hours of community service!!!

wow, there’s a deterrent, not!

Quote:
There was no evidence any of the defendants intended David’s death, said DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack.

“The fault is more in a system that encouraged irresponsibility and risky behavior, than in individuals who thoughtlessly repeated a ritual where they had once been victims, and then became perpetrators,” he said. “We can only hope that this prosecution will in some way serve as an object lesson to them and those who would come after them, at least at NIU, if not the nation.”

That’s frustrating that in this case “the fault is more in a system” rather than with the individuals and if people blame fraternities wholesale the response is that it’s not the system it’s bad apples who do not reflect the values of they system. So which is it?

Note the different verdicts in the NIU and Florida A&M cases.

^^^

Yes, but I think the actions were very different. Yes, it was EXTREMELY WRONG to badger people into drinking excessively, but in the Florida A&M case, it was actual physical attack/beatings, etc. The latter was a total physical assault from which the victim had no means of escaping.

I don’t know if the NIU fraternity victim could have walked away at some point and just left.