Dharun Ravi was sentenced to only 30 days in jail, plus 300 hours of community service, a counseling program related to cyber-bullying and “alternate lifestyles,” a $10,000 fine to be donated to a group that assists victims of bias crimes, as part of a three-year probationary sentence that is unalterable, that was designed to be ”a measured response, … balanced… and constructive .. and providing a measure of closure…,” by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman. Ravi is on trial in relation to events surrounding the recording of a sexual encounter of his roommate Tyler Clementi, who died by suicide days later in 2010.
Berman, who said Ravi’s behavior was “scold and calculating,” added, “…although frankly, I’m not sure the Clementi’s will ever get closure…”
The New York Times adds:
Judge Glenn Berman of Middlesex County Superior Court said that the jail term was for witness- and evidence-tampering and lying to police, and not for Mr. Ravi’s bias crimes against his roommate, Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge three days after one of the webcam viewings, three weeks into their freshman year in September 2010.
Both prosecutors and Mr. Ravi’s lawyers asked that the sentence be stayed, a request that Mr. Berman granted.
“I have disenchanted both sides,” he said. “It is what it is.” He looked at both legal teams. “You’re looking for a stay because I imposed a jail term, and you’re looking for it because I didn’t impose a prison term. I don’t comment.
A NY Daily News pre-sentence article added:
Ravi, 20, faces up to 10 years in prison for spying on his roommate’s dorm-room tryst with an older man and inviting others to watch.
Clementi’s mother, Jane, broke down in tears as she recalled the torment her son must have felt and his decision to throw himself off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010.
“The devastation of the loss of my son was more than I could bear…I felt like a piece of me died,” she said.
“I do not know what Tyler was thinking or why he did what he did. Even I had no idea of the despair and torment Tyler must have been feeling.”
But she recounted how Ravi gave her excited son the brush-off the first time he stepped into the dorm room with his parents.
“He never had any intention of befriending Tyler or even of being a considerate and trustworthy roommate,” she said. “He judged Tyler.”
Her husband, Joseph Clementi, called Tyler “a kind and gentle soul.”
The Huffington Post has compiled a series of tweets about the sentencing trial.
Related: Dharun Ravi: Garden State Equality Responds To 30 Day Sentence
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