"In the high-profile case that sparked awareness of cyber-bullying and harassment of gay teenagers, Ravi, 20, was convicted on all 15 counts against him—including four bias intimidation counts, but acquitted on some of the bias charges involving his former roommate, Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman."

I was of course outraged when this first came to light. But the New Yorker article made it so much grayer for me. I do not really know what to think about this. The guy was an asshole but do you jail all the assholes to fix society?

(And my daughter experienced gay-related harassment, so I am extra tuned into that.)

The article I mentioned.

I wonder what the chances are that he will be deported. Does he have any family in India anymore?

I would be interested in the "word on the street" among folks you know, TPS.

(I hate that the right wing is making him out to be the victim, but then they make Limbaugh out to be the victim so there you go.)

Word on the street regarding what?

Well do people think that this guy should be put away for a long time, or do they see some nuance to it?

A lot of the people I know who discuss stuff like this are Mefites, so you've probably already read their opinions, but the consensus among all on FB seems to be that the whole thing just sucks all around.

My first comment on mefi was deleted: I am most furious that Clementi's right to be left alone was violated when he had specifically asked for privacy and that it had been violated before this; the NY article claims that Ravi had trained his webcam on Clementi before he brought the man to his room.


And yes, I DO hope Ravi gets the shit beaten out of him in prison.

While I am not in the mindset that jail is a good thing, I do want to see him punished in some way. He deliberately invaded someone else's private, intimate moments - to make a mockery of Tyler. Then he tried to cover up his own actions by tampering with tweets, etc. What maddens me is that he doesn't seem to have any remorse at all.

And I'm with brujita; I hope they harass him repeatedly in prison.

I sincerely hope he learns and becomes a better person and that he can do that without revenge being substituted for justice.

danf, thanks for the link to the NY article. It's a long one but I'm sure well worth the time.

I read the New Yorker article and wondered about all this. "Justice" rarely has to do with any actual sense of justice, but purely punitive action or "social justice" or any public show of priorities that may or may not pertain to the players at hand.
Ravi was an asshole, an insensitive, self-absorbed, privileged asshole whose brain has at least five more years of development before he fully understands consequence and action.
I bet he will be deported but I wonder if he will actually serve time. He is bearing the brunt of timing more than an active maliciousness and that is the rub for me.
People are insensitive, self-absorbed, privileged assholes on a regular basis. I just took some to task and they were shaken by it. They usually are. But is ignorance a better excuse than ignorant hatred? In some parts of the world, any kind of extreme ism is seen as mental illness, and isn't it? When does something approach the definition of delusion close enough to be pathological?

What Ravi did was wrong on so many levels, but I think it was all done out of arrogance and ignorance. I don't know if that makes a difference. I think it does in the sense that he will never be allowed the privilege of that ignorance again. I hope that means something and he understands why it matters instead of just responding with hate.

Ignorance is a luxury. I'm forever surprised at who thinks they can afford it.

I sincerely hope he learns and becomes a better person and that he can do that without revenge being substituted for justice.

Well said.