University of Georgia pauses pledging for Sigma Chi fraternity amid investigation into alleged hazing
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(ATHENS, Ga.) — The University of Georgia has paused pledging for one of its fraternities amid an investigation into alleged hazing off-campus.
The university said it is conducting a review of the Sigma Chi fraternity “following a third-party complaint.” The Athens-Clarke County Police Department said it is also investigating the reported incident.
The university received an email complaint from an Athens-based professional on Aug. 12 that reported “‘gross student misconduct and abuse’ in reference to ‘hazing by male Greek Life leaders,'” a University of Georgia Police Department complaint stated.
The complainant reported that “incoming freshmen were punched and forced to drink copious amounts of alcohol beyond their capacity” from Aug. 9 to Aug. 10, the complaint stated.
One of two fraternities cited in the complaint has been allowed to resume activities following a “thorough review,” university spokesperson Rod Guajardo said.
A review into the other fraternity, Sigma Chi, is ongoing, with all potential new member activity currently paused, Guajardo said.
“Pausing all potential new member activity for an individual organization while a review is conducted is standard operating procedure,” Guajardo said in a statement.
The complaint was referred to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department because the fraternity is located off-campus, the school said.
A spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department confirmed to ABC News it is investigating the incident, but that no further details are available at this time.
ABC News has reached out to the Sigma Chi headquarters for comment and has not yet received a response.
Hazing is against federal law. Georgia also has an anti-hazing law that deems hazing a misdemeanor of a high or aggravated nature that is punishable by up to one year in jail.
“Students and organizations are prohibited from participating in, condoning, encouraging, requiring, or allowing opportunity for hazing,” UGA states on its website.
A prison officer guards a cell at maximum security penitentiary CECOT (Center for the Compulsory Housing of Terrorism) on April 4, 2025 in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador./ Photo by Alex Peña/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Friday overturned U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s attempt to initiate contempt proceedings against the Trump administration related to the March deportation of hundreds of migrants to El Salvador, in what the panel’s majority described as an “extraordinary, ongoing confrontation between the Executive and Judicial Branches.”
In a 2-1 decision, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao — both Trump appointees — vacated Judge Boasberg’s contempt-related order that sought to determine if members of the Trump administration deliberately defied a court order after the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March.
“The district court’s order raises troubling questions about judicial control over core executive functions like the conduct of foreign policy and the prosecution of criminal offenses. And it implicates an unsettled issue whether the judiciary may impose criminal contempt for violating injunctions entered without jurisdiction,” Judge Katsas wrote in a concurring opinion.
The Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order and ordered that the planes be turned around, but Justice Department attorneys said his oral instructions directing the flight to be returned were defective, and the deportations proceeded as planned.
Boasberg subsequently sought contempt proceedings against the government for deliberately defying his order.
Judge Katsas, in Friday’s decision, wrote that the “ambiguities” in Judge Boasberg’s original order blocking the removal of the migrants make it impossible to definitively say that the Trump administration acted in contempt.
“At the time of the alleged contempt, just hours after the TRO hearing and before any transcript of it was available, the district court’s minute order could reasonably have been read either way. Thus, the TRO cannot support a criminal-contempt conviction here,” he wrote.
In a searing dissent, Judge Cornelia Pillard defended Judge Boasberg’s attempt to initiate contempt proceedings to “vindicate the authority of the court” after the “apparently contumacious conduct.” 71045364″The rule of law depends on obedience to judicial orders,” she wrote. ” Yet, shortly after the district court granted plaintiffs’ emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, defendants appear to have disobeyed it. Our system of courts cannot long endure if disappointed litigants defy court orders with impunity rather than legally challenge them. That is why willful disobedience of a court order is punishable as criminal contempt.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated Friday’s ruling on social media, calling Judge Boasberg’s order “failed judicial overreach at its worst.”
“Our @TheJusticeDept attorneys just secured a MAJOR victory defending President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal alien terrorists. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed what we’ve argued for months: Judge Boasberg’s attempt to sanction the government for deporting criminal-alien terrorists was a “clear abuse of discretion,” Bondi wrote. “We will continue fighting and WINNING in court for President Trump’s agenda to keep America Safe!”
This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. Photo Credit: CDCR
(NEW YORK) — Lyle and Erik Menendez have been behind bars for 35 years, and when both brothers were denied parole last week, their case reached another barricade.
But the brothers still have three potential paths to freedom:
This May, a judge resentenced them to 50 years to life in prison, making them immediately eligible for parole under youth offender parole laws. The judge said he was moved by the supportive letters from prison guards and was amazed by the work the brothers had accomplished to better the lives of their fellow inmates.
In separate hearings, commissioners stressed how the brothers repeatedly broke rules in prison, like illegal cellphone use.
“While cellphones may seem like something innocuous,” ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire said, the parole commissioners focused on “the criminality that allowed those cellphones to get into the prison,” like smuggling and bribes. “The money that was associated with trying to get those cellphones in oftentimes go to gangs within the prison,” Buckmire explained.
The brothers can apply for parole again in three years. With good behavior in prison, that wait can potentially be shortened to 18 months.
Clemency
A second possible path to release is clemency, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom can grant at any time.
“He can provide clemency in the form of commutation, further reducing the sentence of the brothers, making them eligible for release even today,” Buckmire said. “Or, a pardon, giving them a full forgiveness of the crime.”
“That has some political undertones,” Buckmire continued, “and no one knows just yet what information the governor will take from this parole hearing to use to either grant clemency or not.”
Bid for a new trial
The third path is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which they submitted in 2023 to try to get another trial based on new evidence not originally presented in court.
The petition presents two pieces of new evidence. One is allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed in the 2023 docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was raped by Jose Menendez. The second is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse; the cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney.
Defense attorneys argue that the “newfound information … would have resulted in a lesser penalty at trial,” Buckmire said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who is firmly opposed to the brothers’ release, filed a response to the habeas corpus petition this month, stating that he “concluded that this petition does not come close to meeting the factual or legal standard to warrant a new trial.”
“The central defense of the Menendez brothers at trial has always been self-defense, not sexual abuse. The jury rejected this self-defense defense in finding them guilty of the horrific murders they perpetrated; five different appellate state and federal courts have affirmed those convictions, and nothing in the so-called ‘new’ evidence challenges any of those determinations,” Hochman said in a statement. “Our opposition to this ‘Hail Mary’ effort to obtain a new trial over 30 years later makes clear that justice, the facts, and the law demand the convictions stand.”
The petition is pending. The final decision will be made by a judge.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Bryan Kohberger admitted to the killings of four University of Idaho students at his change of plea hearing on Wednesday, pleading guilty to all five counts, despite the former criminology student’s initial eagerness to be exonerated in the high-profile case.
At the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, Judge Steven Hippler asked Kohberger how he pleads for each count. Kohberger quickly said “guilty” each time, showing no emotion.
Kohberger — who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the 2022 killings of the four students — will be spared the death penalty as a part of the plea, according to a letter sent to victims’ relatives. He’ll be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the agreement.
At the start of the hearing, Kohberger briefly answered questions from Hippler with “yes” and “no,” marking the first time since his arrest that Kohberger spoke during court proceedings.
He was asked if he was thinking clearly, and Kohberger responded, “yes.” When asked if he was promised anything in exchange for the plea, Kohberger responded, “no.” Asked if he was pleading guilty because he is guilty, Kohberger responded, “yes.”
Hippler asked Kohberger if he “killed and murdered” each victim, naming the four students: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin. Kohberger responded “yes” each time, showing no emotion.
Kohberger’s father shook his head as the victims’ names were read.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson outlined for the judge the state’s evidence against Kohberger, including Kohberger’s DNA matching the male DNA on a knife sheath left by Mogen’s body.
Kohberger also waives his right to appeal as a part of the agreement.
The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger’s trial was to get underway. Jury selection was set to start on Aug. 4 and opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18.
Prosecutors — who met with victims’ families last week — called the plea a “sincere attempt to seek justice” for the families.
But the dad of 21-year-old victim Kaylee Goncalves blasted the move, accusing the prosecutors of mishandling and rushing the plea deal.
Steve Goncalves said outside court on Wednesday that the prosecution “made a deal with the devil.”
The Goncalves family told ABC News they contacted prosecutors on Tuesday asking for the terms of Kohberger’s deal be amended to include additional requirements: they asked for a full confession and for the location of the alleged murder weapon — described by authorities as a KA-BAR-style hunting knife — which has never been found.
The family said prosecutors turned down the request, explaining that an offer already accepted by the defendant could not ethically be changed. The family said the prosecutors indicated they’re asking the court to allow the prosecution to include a factual summary of the evidence against Kohberger at Wednesday’s hearing, and that more information about Kohberger’s actions would be presented at his sentencing hearing.
The family of 20-year-old victim Ethan Chapin said in a brief statement that they’re at the hearing “in support of the plea bargain.” This is the Chapins’ first appearance at court since their son was killed.
Idaho law requires the state to afford violent crime victims or their families an opportunity to communicate with prosecutors and to be advised of any proposed plea offer before entering into an agreement, but the ultimate decision lies solely with the prosecution.
Kohberger’s parents also attended Wednesday’s hearing, their first time in court with their son since his arrest in Pennsylvania more than two years ago. Attorneys for the Kohberger family said in a statement on Tuesday, “The Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time. We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties.”
Prosecutors allege Kohberger fatally stabbed Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin in the students’ off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
Two roommates in the house survived, including one roommate who told authorities in the middle of the night she saw a man walking past her in the house, according to court documents. The roommate described the intruder as “not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows,” according to the documents.
Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania in December 2022.
