The facts of the case are pretty well established, but not everything is clear. Was Clementi’s Rutgers University roommate Dharun Ravi anti-gay? The judge who sentenced Ravi for the harassment said he didn’t think Ravi hated Clementi because Ravi “had no reason to”. But that’s exactly the point of anti-gay hatred: It is always without reason, and the evidence—Ravi’s Twitter postings and that he set up a private dressing area, for example—suggests at least a mild anti-gay prejudice, and it seems probable, based on what’s been reported, that this did serve as a motivator for Ravi’s behaviour.
Ravi’s crime was a gross and inexcusable invasion of Clementi’s privacy. It doesn’t matter, ultimately, whether Ravi was motivated by hate or prejudice, or even simple arrogance or attention seeking: What matters is that what he did was indisputably wrong, indisputably criminal and he deserves to be punished.
To bad Ravi isn’t being punished, not really: Ravi was sentenced to a mere 30 days in jail, 3 years probation, 300 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine and counselling. Of all that, only the counselling stands any chance of making a difference.
No one wanted Ravi to receive the maximum possible sentence of ten years in prison, but 30 days?! That hardly seems like a punishment fitting the crime. Would such a light sentence have been handed down if the roles had been reversed? I'm not sure.
At the sentencing, Ravi’s mother said,“Dharun’s dreams are shattered and he has been living in hell for the past 20 months.” Yeah, well, Tyler doesn’t get to have any dreams any more, because he’s dead and Ravi’s actions helped drive him to take his own life. I can’t work up any sympathy for Ravi: He created the “hell” he’s been living in and only he can make it better. Tyler will never get that chance.
Sometimes I think that in 2010 Ravi was really nothing more than a typical boy of that age: Self-centred, arrogant, unconcerned about the consequences of his actions—possibly even incapable of believing there could ever be any consequences. This is precisely why I didn’t favour the maximum sentence. And yet, he deserves to be punished and Tyler Clementi deserves justice. Also, gay teens and youth must be valued as much as their heterosexual peers, and crimes against them taken as seriously. I don’t believe that in this case any of those three happened.
Nobody “won” in this case, but one thing remains clear: Tyler Clementi was the victim.
The photo accompanying this post is Tyler Clementi’s Facebook profile photo, which I found on Wikipedia. I wouldn’t normally post a photo of uncertain copyright status, but I think it’s important to remember who the victim in this case was.
2 comments:
I was going out the door, but I was briefly watching the CBS morning news news, and Jack Ford was explaining how this is one of those very rare cases that the prosecution is even allowed to appeal. It has something to do with the level felony it is, the quirky nature of NJ law, and the sentencing guidelines ignored by the judge.
Personally, I thought he'd get 18 months to 3 years; 30 days was a shock to the court observers.
I think the sort of sentence you mention would have been about right.
The inescapable fact in this is that it wasn't mere invasion of privacy, as the defence tried to say, but harassment that contributed to a death, and there have to be appropriate consequences. Ravi didn't kill Tyler Clementi, but he helped drive him to it. The judge effectively said that Tyler's life wasn't worth very much, that his tormentor's life was worth more, and that's just wrong.
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