Rutgers student commits suicide after being spied on

[YoshiX]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/30/new.jersey.student.suicide.archive/index.html

Apparently, Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after videos of him having gay sex were put onto the internet. These videos were taken by his roommate of all people.

Terribly sad, but this also raises some legal questions. Ravi (the roommate) is facing up to 5 years in prison for invasion of privacy and/or hate crimes. Do you think this is excessive? Do you think Ravi is guilty on either of these charges?

I feel that Ravi is guilty of invasion of privacy, and although what he did was terrible, I doubt this was actually a hate crime and was simply a harmless prank gone wrong. Therefore, I feel that 5 years in prison is excessive.

 

[kd24]

hate crime it is not although apparantly these kids were homophobic and had posted extreme messages on their facebooks, but it was certainly invasion of privacy. this whole situation has been pretty sad though, may tyler r.i.p

 

[Burn Jack]

Filming somebody having sex, without their consent, and broadcasting it on the internet is not a harmless prank by any stretch of the imagination. That he attempted a repeat two days later is fairly malicious.

 

[Chou Toshio]

Wow, this is just . . . terrible . . . people seriously need to re-evaluate what can and cannot fall within the bounds of a "prank." This is terrible-- "Invasion of Privacy" just does not do the case justice.

That said, how is it that the other kid (or people in general) could think to off themselves so easily? Seriously people-- what's more valuable than the life your parents gave you? Shame is probably the most worthless (pointless) emotion there is, and self-confidence that gives you the strength to live, endure and strive is the most important. Ie. The feeling of embarrassment is something best just ignored (think about it, it seriously has no purpose!).

I mean, there's nothing wrong being gay. Sure getting videos of your personal life put up on the internet is fucked up, but if its not even your fault, the fucked up one is your roomate, not you. Suicide? Jeez! I would be beating my roommate instead!

Well, no matter how you look at it, the video postings were simply, flat out, wrong. :/

5 years of prison seems out there though-- how about something like a month and $10,000 fine?

 

[Mikazukinoyaiba]

Hate crime is over the top, to me at least, it doesn't seem this guy did this because he hates homosexuals but yeah this was a very callous and stupid prank to do.

I doubt this was the first case of students spying on their roommates and doing an "American Pie" but this is probably the first time it ended in a suicide. Otherwise this would have never caught media attention.

 

[MrIndigo]

I disagree with the criminalisation of 'hate' in the first place. The fact that I punch you in the face is equally bad, it doesn't matter whether I did it because you have brown skin or because you're jackass.

That said, I'm not sure if you can effectively prove this was a hate crime, although invasion of privacy is obvious.

 

[Trax]

I disagree with the criminalisation of 'hate' in the first place. The fact that I punch you in the face is equally bad, it doesn't matter whether I did it because you have brown skin or because you're jackass.

That said, I'm not sure if you can effectively prove this was a hate crime, although invasion of privacy is obvious.

Disagree, there's a pretty significant difference between me kicking your arse because you pissed me off or because you're black -- in one case you did something to deserve it.

 

[Veedrock]

I personally think they should charge him with everything they're capable of (which I'm sure is more than invasion of privacy and hate crime). There is no going "too hard" on somebody that didn't expect any kind of backlash for being a pompous prick. I absolutely cannot see how anybody can sympothize with him. I'm aware he didn't want the victim to kill himself but, well, what did he want the victim to do? Actions have consequences, there was going to be a lot more than a jolly laugh coming from this incident.

 

[MrIndigo]

There's a bit of a slippery slope for punishing people for someone else's suicide.

 

[MrIndigo]

Disagree, there's a pretty significant difference between me kicking your arse because you pissed me off or because you're black -- in one case you did something to deserve it.

Maybe you pissed me off, but you didn't do anything actually wrong, I'm just hypersensitive. Maybe I was jealous about your success and beat you up for that reason. Maybe I just punched you for no reason at all.

 

[Bad Ass]

Both were in the wrong. Obviously the roommate who posted the video should go to jail for invasion of privacy. Forcing someone to "come out" against their wishes is an awful thing to do, and this is amplified by the fact he killed himself. Even if he didn't kill himself, the roommate should still go to jail.

On the other hand, the guy didn't have to go and kill himself, and since he did indeed kill himself there was obviously some deeper set emotional problem. He is obviously ashamed of his sexuality, and it's pretty likely that something would have happened that happens to many people who repress their sexuality (e.g. end up killing himself for other reasons, etc). This is not to say he would at all. He could end up coming out later and living a happy life. But this doesn't mean that the roommate shouldn't be punished. He should probably serve the maximum sentence for invasion of privacy.

 

[MrIndigo]

Both were in the wrong. Obviously the roommate who posted the video should go to jail for invasion of privacy. Forcing someone to "come out" against their wishes is an awful thing to do, and this is amplified by the fact he killed himself. Even if he didn't kill himself, the roommate should still go to jail.

Invasion of Privacy is not usually imprisonment terms, it's usually fine or equitable remedies like equitable damages.

 

[WaterBomb]

I have zero respect or sympathy for people who commit suicide. It's the ultimate cowardly thing to do in this world, and I hate even the thought of it.

That being said, it was a stupid prank and should be punished to the fullest extent of "invasion of privacy" laws. Hate crime? No. People are just reacting as such because the spineless one killed himself. It's purely emotional. Ravi didn't kill the guy, and I've seen people get less than 5 years for killing another person. I know people want his head for this, but you can't let your emotions drive you to excessively punish someone for something they didn't do just because you need closure on your loved one's death.

 

[360Swampert]

To be honest my reaction to this was to feel sorry for the kid who killed himself. If i is a homophobic hate crime charge him with whatever's possible because its really unjust to target someone for any difference whatsoever. That being said if its proven that it was not a hatecrime but just a "harmless prank" (Again I don't believe it was a harmless prank and it is a series infringement of privacy). I would sympatise with the roomate because, chances are his actions where not forcing the kid to kill himself, and he probably feels incredibly guilty about the whole incident. He should take some responsability, but charging him for making the kid commit suicuide is not the way to go.
To quote MrIndigo

There's a bit of a slippery slope for punishing people for someone else's suicide.

To me it seems that 5 years in prison is excessive and he should really be only charged for Infringement of privacy, yet if it turns out to be a homophobic hate crime then 5 years seems just (minimum).

 

[Wikey]

I think "hate crime" laws are stupid but I wouldn't be against their use to put these idiots in jail. Stupidity is not a valid defense. If they honestly meant it as a "prank" (which I think is as likely as the Cleveland Browns winning the World Series) then the two are absolute idiots. Which I think is just as detestable as being bigots.

 

[Mikazukinoyaiba]

I have zero respect or sympathy for people who commit suicide. It's the ultimate cowardly thing to do in this world, and I hate even the thought of it.

I have zero respect or sympathy for people who kick on the dead, knowing they aren't there to defend themselves, especially when they are people that didn't know the person while they are alive.

It's the ultimate cowardly thing to do in this world and I hate even the thought of it.

 

[Charmed]

No one in this thread by far has had any decency to Tyler himself who is dead, by the way, except the first three posters.

R.I.P Tyler.

 

[Arctic Eclipse]

I barely heard of this a few minutes ago after watching a show on Sexting in American and they broadcasted this because it was more or less the same. I feel horrible for Tyler and the guy deserves what he got coming to him.

 

[SOMALIA]

I feel sorry for Tyler but one must ask...maybe he was acting excessively by commiting suicide, not hat I am judging him or anything but everyone seems to look at this story from one only one perspective. Anyhow as much as I feel Invasion of privacy is wrong, Ravi shouldn't be punished on the account of Tyler being dead and he deserves to be locked up for a good amount of time.

 

[YoshiX]

Just to put another angle on it, what if Ravi is a homosexualhater? What if he broadcast these videos on the internet because he hates gays and wanted to embarass Tyler because he was gay?

 

[Shy Glizzy]

Just to put another angle on it, what if Ravi is a homosexualhater? What if he broadcast these videos on the internet because he hates gays and wanted to embarass Tyler because he was gay?

If they find actually evidence of that then sure, lay on some hate crime charges, put you can't call it a hate crime because the person was gay. That being said, I agree that suicide is really cowardly thing to do.

 

[cim]

If they find actually evidence of that then sure, lay on some hate crime charges, put you can't call it a hate crime because the person was gay.

If you've read the fucker's Twitter page, it's pretty clear several things:

1. The boy was closeted.
2. The roomate was getting a kick out of the fact that he was bringing a guy back to the room
3. There was no consent whatsoever.

There's no way you can't deduce that the public humiliation and outing of this guy wasn't a hate crime. If outing a closeted gay man by streaming him fucking another person for your entertainment at his expense, nothing is.

I'm appalled that some of you are so insensitive to Tyler. That you can sit behind a computer and say that Tyler is a coward, closeted for his entire life because of his family and now his bigoted roommates and peers, is disgusting. You haven't a clue what homosexuals have to go through, and to expect him to be normal after he was outed in probably the most grotesque and shameful way possible is absurd. You can't sit there and tell me you'd shrug that off, even if you had the slightest clue what gay people, suicidal people, or anyone with any real hardship at all has to deal with.

Anyway, I hope this man rots in jail for the rest of his life. These kind of people are what make the world such a terrible place.

 

[ak_Archangel]

Anyone else mad at the fact that he did it not once but twice and is only getting 5 years in prison/

 

[cim]

Anyone else mad at the fact that he did it not once but twice and is only getting 5 years in prison/

He hasn't been sentenced yet.

I feel that Ravi is guilty of invasion of privacy, and although what he did was terrible, I doubt this was actually a hate crime and was simply a harmless prank gone wrong. Therefore, I feel that 5 years in prison is excessive.

(emphasis added)

I forgot to respond to this earlier, but outing a closeted person in any way is far from harmless, even if you don't do it by streaming video of him fucking a dude.

 

[Alan]

Def not a hate crime, but its mad invasion of privacy. Then again, I don't consider any crime a hate crime; a crime is a crime, regardless of the reason it was executed.

Its sad he killed himself, but CIM, it is the "easy way out" so to speak. I feel bad for his family and yes, you are correct; I have on idea what he had to go through or how he felt. I will always feel that anyone who kills themselves is a coward, I don't care if you are some random ass kid from a college several thousand miles away from me or my own flesh and blood, its a cowardly thing to do.

CIM, you are terribly overreacting in your post. He [Ravi] shouldn't rot in jail for the rest of his life, a few years is more than enough for invasion of privacy. The fact that Tyler killed himself was not Ravi's fault, from a legal perspective.