Posted on 09/30/2010 11:28:41 AM PDT by Dr. Scarpetta
Gov. Chris Christie today called the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi an “unspeakable tragedy,” but said he would let Attorney General Paula Dow figure out how to prosecute the case against two fellow students accused of recording him in a sexual encounter.
“Well, first of all, as the father of a 17-year-old, I can’t imagine what those parents are feeling today – I can’t,” said Christie.
“You send your son to school to get an education with great hopes and aspirations.
Christie said his feeling on the case as a father “overwhelms whatever feelings I have as governor” and that he didn’t know how Ravi and Wei could sleep at night “knowing that they contributed to driving that young man to that alternative.”
The two have been charged with multiple counts of invasion of privacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
No one is saying what he was doing was right. What most people are saying is filming him without his permission then streaming it on the web is a felony.
I think what he was doing was probably pretty conventional but his parents probably did not know.
Agreed, what they did was juvenile and cruel, as well as illegal. Did it contribute to the kid’s decision to kill himself, clearly. But I don’t think they are legally culpable in criminal court. The family may go the wrongful death route in civil court though.
THAT is what people have lost sight of. If five years is the maximum sentence for the combination of the 2nd degree and 3rd degree crimes that these punks can easily be prosecuted and convicted for, then that is what they should get. If you don't think 5 years is enough then lobby the legislature to increase the statutory sentence limits for this particular crime, but don't try to finagle an imagined upgrade crime so we can extract a more stringent sentence for this case.
That's your opinion, not a fact. FWIW it's my opinion too, but in a court of law, it won't mean bupkis.
What has that got to do with what this boy did? Try as you will his reaction to this is not relevent.
That is correct. The suicide could, however, be a contributing factor to the jury in any decision to convict on whatever charges are brought.
Sad, stupid, unecessary story all the way around.
You firing someone is not a felony. The taping and uploading/streaming to the web (that caused him to be distraught) was a felony.
Can the felony taping and streaming be connected to his death for involuntary manslaughter? Probably not.
Does this Ravi kid probably deserve it? He probably does.
I don’t think teenagers today are any different than teenagers throughout time. Impulsive, reckless, and shortsighted. Full of themselves. Look at fraternities & sororities and some of their hazing practices.
I have a friend who tells a ‘funny’ (not) story of pranks he and his friends played on a short fat girl at work. Terrible stuff. That was 40 years ago.
The only thing teens have now are recording devices and access to mass communication to make bigger fools of themselves - and archived for all time.
Connecting the dots is harldy supreme knowledge.
Sin has been around for the ages and i expect it will continue.
No one appears to have caught or understood the “I dare you to ...” put forth by this Ravi person, who also reportedly attempted to secretly record sexual activity in another recent, separate instance.
He appears to have been a budding porn website entrepreneur, building a following, flogging his illicit, secret sexual video recordings. This means that Tyler Clementi was nothing but fodder, a young, naive, sexually confused kid who got not just a predator for a roomate, but a predator with a profit motive.
In other words, this wasn’t a prank. It was a calculated business decision. “I dare you to ...” im’ed to 150 people. Family attorneys should subpoena all records of his iChat account, and those of every follower he had, and the story will take on a different character, imho.
I’m so sorry for the family. I’ve tried to tamp it down in my own way, without success. The public uproar seems destined only to mushroom. Such a painful loss, and to be taunted on and on by total strangers and boors on the internet. The world seems alien to me sometimes.
My understanding is that Ravi didn’t even know Tyler was gay, and he expected him to be with a girl.
So it kind of blows away any attempt to turn this into another “Matthew Shepard.”
Many may not follow thru, but they may want to and by the grace of God make it thru, I know all to well as in junior high school, i was called elephant girl and all the jokes that went with that. It scared me and it was so very depressing. Fortunately, i had a good doctor and lost weight, but my heart understands all too well what pain from bullying is
Melissa
They may sue the school, too. Apparently, there were messages posted on a gay forum by someone who’s situation was identical to Tyler’s. The poster “cit2mo”, claimed to have informed his RA about the roommates behavior when he was filmed the first time.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/message_board_thread_on_gay_we.html
Indeed. I am certain a number of lawyers are revving up their motors.
He knew the second time.
It’s the same person. Not naive nor all that upset. Doesn’t add up.
Better find the other person in the secret video.
Many schools have what are termed "quiet" dorms..which can requested by the more serious students..no booze, parties, loud music, late nights, and no sexual encounters in the rooms...the students sign a pledge to that effect..
If this Ravi guy is a budding pornographer..that's one thing..but let's assume for the moment that he wasn't comfortable with his roomie's homosexuality..so he acted stupidly in posting the video, with tragically unintended consequences..so, any similarities to DADT in the military...?hmmm?
No, it doesn’t. Makes you wonder if the suicide was due to something else. The other 2 students still need to be punished for their sick voyeurism.
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