Harry Lew and Danny Chen Military Justice Reform Act

Key Points

• This bill asks the Department of Defense to look into making hazing its own specific crime in the military. Right now, hazing is often punished under other general rules, but this would create a clear law just for hazing.
• The Secretary of Defense would have to create a formal definition of what counts as hazing. This helps ensure that all service members know exactly what behavior is against the law.
• The Department of Defense must report its findings to Congress within six months. This report will explain if creating this new rule is a good idea and how it would work in practice.
• The bill is named after Harry Lew and Danny Chen, two service members who died after being hazed by their fellow soldiers. It aims to prevent similar tragedies by making the rules against hazing stronger and clearer.

Impact Analysis

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