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Two Kappa Alpha Psi Members from FAMU Receive Prison Sentences for
Hazing
Judge Uses New Law to Convict Two Florida a & M University Fraternity Members for Hazing

By Paula Neal Mooney

Atop the highest of seven hills in the hilly and humid city of Tallahassee -- the college student-filled capital of Florida -- sits
Florida A & M University. One of the most prominent fraternities from the campus of Florida A & M University - or FAM-U,
as it is affectionately dubbed - is the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Though the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers have long been pegged the "pretty boys" of the fraternity world, a recent
sentencing on Monday of two Kappa Alpha Psi members from FAMU have exposed the ugly side of a practice called
hazing.

Michael Morton, 23, a former president of FAMU's Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity was determined to be guilty of hitting pledge
hopeful Marcus Jones, 20, extremely hard with a wooden cane -- so much so that Jones eventually had to undergo
surgery for his bruised backside. Jones, a Decatur, Ga., resident, endured four nights of the hazing that would ultimately
lead him to seek medical treatment.

Hailing from Fort Lauderdale, Morton received a two-year prison sentence from Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker, a judge
who took full advantage of a 2005 felony law designed to prevent such hazing prevalent througout fraternities and
sororities. Wanting to send a clear message that this type of torture would not be tolerated on college campuses, the judge
created Florida's first prosecutions beneath this particular hazing law.

Also sentenced was Jason Harris, 25, from Jacksonville. Both Harris and Morton were taken from the court in handcuffs,
along with Richard Keith Alan II, lawyer for Harris. Alan himself was charged with indirect criminal contempt. Judge Dekker
did not elaborate on her decision to charge Alan with contempt of court.

But Dekker did explain her rationale behind imposing the two-year sentence on both Kappa Alpha Psi members: "I want to
save the victims who will quietly go along because they want to belong," Dekker explained.

"I want schools to be furious and mad and upset that they can lose talent to this and come down hard on hazing," the
judge continued, hoping her ruling would deter others from this common and ritualistic type of hazing behavior.

Though not directly named as striking Jones, Harris was charged in the criminal action due to his participation by
persuading Jones to take the beatings. He also reportedly woke Jones up with water after Jones had passed out so that he
could return for more hazing strikes.

Various professors and university officials pleaded for leniency for the duo, including Morton's pregnant fiancée. Jones was
not in court, but his father, Army Master Sgt. Mark Jones, was.

"They tortured my son," Sgt. Jones said. "He wasn't hazed. He was tortured."

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