Dharun Ravi sentenced to jail in Tyler Clementi webcam spying case

[NY Yankee]

NEW BRUNSWICK — Dharun Ravi was sentenced today to a 30-day jail term for intimidation and invading the privacy of his former roommate, who later committed suicide.

The 20-year-old former Rutgers University freshman was facing 10 years.

Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman, before imposing sentence, sternly addressed Ravi after he unexpectedly chose not to address the court.

“I heard this jury say guilty 288 times, and I haven't heard you apologize once,” said Berman.

Ravi, now 20, was convicted in March of second-degree bias intimidation and invading the privacy of Tyler Clementi after using a remote webcam from the dorm room they both shared to spy on him in an intimate embrace with another man. Clementi, 18, later jumped off the George Washington Bridge.

Before sentencing, the Clementi family Angry and full of grief, the mother of Tyler lashed out at her son’s roommate this morning, calling his actions “evil and malicious.”

“What I want is justice,” Jane Clementi declared before a packed courtroom in New Brunswick. “The court needs to show … this was not right and it was not acceptable behavior and it will not be tolerated.”

She also asked out loud why no one else spoke up for Tyler.

“How could they all go along with such meanness?” she asked, frequently choking up as she read a prepared statement. “No one spoke up to the mastermind, the computer genius.”

Ravi’s parents made an impassioned plea to the judge for mercy.

“Dharun was not raised to hate guys. he didn’t grow up in such an environment,” said Ravi’s father, Ravi Pazhani.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/dharun_ravi_sentenced_to_jail.html

I'm not sure if this receive press in the UK, but it received a lot of attention in the US. What happened was that Ravi was roommates with Tyler Clementi at Rutgers University. Ravi was a computer science major and Tyler played the violin. Ravi found out that Tyler was gay. Tyler asked Ravi if he could bring over another gay man to the room. Ravi reluctantly said yes. While Tyler and his companion were engaging in an intimate act, Ravi was secretly recording them. Ravi shared the recording with some of his friends. When Tyler found out, he was devastated. He never told his parents he was gay. Tyler was so upset that he jumped off a bridge.

I'm not defending Ravi's actions-they were callous and depraved. But I don't believe that Ravi intended for Tyler to kill himself. Ravi was a kid who committed a stupid prank that went awry. He has to live with the shame and guilt. American prisons are pretty bad. They're not like prisons in Sweden. 30 days is more than enough.

 

[Mojo]

Bullying of LGBT youth, many of whom go on to develop mental health issues such as depression and in many cases leading to suicide has grown recently, or at least the publicity of it has grown. Bringing attention to the struggle faced on a daily basis, not always as bad as this, sometimes worse, by such young people is a significant issue, and something which not only the justice systems worldwide but also governments, media and schools through the education of pupils and society at large.

 

[Clip]

I'm not defending Ravi's actions-they were callous and depraved. But I don't believe that Ravi intended for Tyler to kill himself. .

Well he shouldnt have done what he did then should he?

No sympathy for him really, only contempt. He shouldve got the 10 years he was facing.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I think it is wrong to invade someones privacy like this in any circumstances, but in these it is really quite bad.
Not that i believe this is in anyway right and i believe the peopel who i refer to are backwards, but there are social problems that come with being gay, still some people think it is 'wrong' and will happily make somone who comes out's life very difficult. So exposing it it like this was very inconsiderate.
Unfortunately some misplaced trust led to someone in our year at uni having to admit he was gay. Some of my year and former friends acted liked absolute wa***** and it led to him moving to his home town uni.

 

[pinkpanther]

I think he got off very lightly - because of his actions a young man is now dead.

As others have said far too many LGBT people are on the receiving end of callous, unthinking or even cruel behaviour from those who should know better, and as a result depression, anxiety and worse are far more common than they should be. Young LGBT people in particular are far, far more likely to be subject to bullying or hate crime than the general population and therefore more likely to be vulnerable to or badly affected by this sort of "prank".

I speak as one who's been on the receiving end (both during my childhood when some around me sensed I was "different", and in the period much later when I came out) and I consider I got off lightly compared to some. Fortunately I was strong (and lucky) enough to get through it and make a new life, but many I've met have had a far rougher time than I have and some of them didn't make it at all.

So I have no sympathy whatsoever with someone who thinks it's OK to covertly film a young man and causes his death has a result.

If you read any of the brief accounts on this site you will hopefully see why I take such an uncompromising line on this.

 

[Yew]

I think that this is definately a good reason for universities both in the states and over here to Phase out Shared rooms. Fortunately there are getting rarer over here, but two people living so close to eachother for a large amount of time can cause friction (especially when they are bringing partners home) and in this case it has had severe consequences.