What Ravi did was immature and nasty, despicable even, but was it a crime? Technically yes, I suppose, but does it justify imprisonment? I don't think so. If Clementi hadn't killed himslef, would this be news? Ravi's punishment will be the realization that he was instrumental in Clementi's suicide.

After reading the article in "The New Yorker", which is available free at their website and should be read by anyone interested in this case, my perceptions about this incident certainly changed. One thing that us old fogeys have to remember when judging a story like this is that these kids have quite a different perception of privacy and personal space than we do. We may sputter and spit and say "Of Course you shouldn't do such things," but these kids have lived their entire lives on line. We gossiped on the phone which has the advantage of not leaving a paper trail, they gossip with texts and tweets and facebook updates. I'm not defending this, but to some extent we have to look at these kids as though they are part of an alien culture with a different set of norms and expectations. Having once been a shy, socially inept, lightweight gay boy I can easily identify with Clementi, but surprisingly to me that has actually made me less willing to judge Ravi beyond calling him a jerk. Clementi was not a passive character in this drama. Considering the circumstances it seemes rather brazen to commandeer his dorm room for sex with a significantly older man so early in the session. Then to do it again even though he knew about the spying and gossip after the first encounter is, to me, almost incomprehensible. I suspect Ravi would have spied on Clementi regardless of the gender of his date. This in no way justifies Ravi's actions, but it seems to me that Clementi was, in his own passive aggressive way, toying with Ravi as much as Ravi was toying with him. It also seems that, although they may have provided a convenient excuse, these events were not what sent Clementi onto and off of the GW Bridge. It's interesting that his suicide notes have been completely suppressed. He was clearly a very troubled young man and, sadly, it also seems that absolutely no one really knew him. The world has essentially lost two talented young men who had bright futures ahead of them. This is an incredibly sad story.

We have periodically read or seen stories about creepy landlords or building superintendents who install secret cameras in tenants' apartments to spy on them, particularly on female tenants. When they're caught, they're prosecuted and most people think of them as, well, creepy and pretty vile. So, how is this different? Because Dharun Ravi is "young and immature"? Believe me, he knew what he was doing when he set up that webcam. And, unlike those creepy landlords, he didn't save the viewing for his own personal "enjoyment"; he advertised it to others, attempting to set up viewing parties, partly to enhance his own stature with his dorm-mates. This definitely was an invasion of Clementi's privacy, especially after Clementi requested the use of the dorm room with the expectation that Ravi's assent would ensure his privacy. The homophobic sub-theme is a little more difficult to call, since at times Ravi seemed typically homophobic and at times appeared to be trying to be "cool about it". But the creepy aspect of trying to spy on another is very disturbing, whether you feel this generation understands the concept of "privacy" or not. Maybe it's time they learned. I believe the verdict was absolutely just.