Invasion of privacy is a serious issue, as a Rutgers University freshman named Dharun Ravi just discovered. This young man was sentenced to 30 days in jail for spying on his gay roommate, who later committed suicide. This is a serious mercy-sentence; Ravi originally faced 10 years in prison and 300 hours of service for his crimes, which included invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence, witness tampering, and hate crime bias. In his original court case, the jury concluded that this freshman had targeted his roommate because he was a homosexual. Ravi, they determined, was a homophobic who enjoyed bullying people with a different sexual orientation.
According to the LA Times, Ravi's roommate threw himself from the George Washington Bridge after he discovered that Ravi had videotaped him in their dorm room with a male date. He couldn't live with the shame or Ravi's ridicule. Ravi was never accused of causing his roommate's suicide, but the situation became a serious issue among different action groups and government organizations. The nation took a new stand on bullying gay youth, using Ravi to portray a self-indulgent homophobic who took pleasure in poking fun at gays.
Yet after appealing the case, the judge presiding determined that Ravi did not mean to cause all the repercussions that he did, and that he did not deserve ten years in jail. The judge reminded Ravi that nothing he said was intended to demean him, but also pointed out that he had never heard the young man say he was sorry for what had happened. The judge disclosed to the LA Times that he did not think Ravi was anti-gay. Many freshman boys will do foolish things for entertainment, and may even poke fun at another male without realizing the impact they are having. The judge assumes that Ravi had no idea his decision to videotape his roommate would have such serious repercussions, and he was just incredibly insensitive.
Ravi's mother was devastated by her son's behavior, and sobbed through the whole trial. Even though Ravi was a first time offender, his deceased roommate's parents, siblings, and lawyer begged the judge and jury to impart prison time. The prosecuting attorney claimed that all of Ravi's actions were planned, malicious, and intentional. She declared that he was completely aware of the consequences of his actions. Ravi's defense attorney replied to the prosecution, arguing that Ravi's choice to videotape his roommate was simply an invasion of privacy, while the case was being treated as if it was a murder. Ravi's roommate chose to take his own life, the defense claimed. Ravi was stoic and stared downwards throughout most of the trial, only showing emotion when his mother approached the stand and explained the turmoil that this trial had put her family through.
In the end, Ravi was sentenced with a reasonable punishment: 30 days in jail for his crimes. According to US Legal, this is a perfectly reasonable sentence for an invasion of privacy case. Most of the time and invasion of privacy is any sort of action where a person's private affairs are exploited. Normally celebrities are exempt from invasion of privacy, because they have voluntarily placed themselves in the public eye. Yet people who are not famous have the right to protection from intrusion into their personal affairs, a public disclosure of embarrassing information, and a publicity that puts him or her into a bad light with the public. As well, individuals have the right to protect their own name and picture so that it will not be used for commercial or personal advantage. Videotaping someone else in an intimate setting is considered a serious invasion of privacy. Thankfully, Ravi was spared from a serious trial and will instead serve his short sentence and be free to continue his studies at another school.
