Dharun Ravi


 

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.


FROM JUDGE BERMAN:

Berman said his sentence needed to "constitute a measured response" and be "balanced."

 

Berman said Ravi acted not out of hate, but of “colossal insensitivity.”

 

“The word hate has never crossed my lips nor Ms. McClure’s,” Berman said. “This individual was not convicted of a hate crime. he was convicted of a bias crime and there's a difference. I do not believe he hated Tyler Clementi. He had no reason to. But I do believe that he acted out of colossal insensitivity."


Well, did they get it right?  30 days in jail and probation?  Should this verdict have been more severe?