Bullying Consequences

daffodilsoup

Recently Dharun Ravi, former roommate of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, has been making headlines as his case progresses. As most of you know, Ravi and a classmate set up a webcam in Clementi's dorm room in attempt to view Clementi's sexual encounters. Following this, Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.

My question is, how do you feel that Ravi, or all bullies, really, should be punished? Should Ravi be held responsible for Clementi's death (therefore being charged with manslaughter), or is it unfair to deem someone "responsible" for another person's suicide? What consequences do you see as appropriate when it comes to bullying, or suicide as a result of bullying?

BrettPGH

This one's tough.. I'm so opposed to bullying it's ridiculous. To the point where sometimes when I hear about school shootings I think everyone misses the point that this is not some kid who one day snapped and decided to kill a bunch of classmates for no reason. These are always kids who are picked on, teased and tortured until they see no way out. Instead of worrying about kids bringing guns to school how about trying to prevent the problems that make them bring guns in the first place?

But still, he did not murder the kid. He can't be charged with that. I would hope that his filming a sex act and distributing it without consent is enough of a charge that he gets some pretty serious punishment. I mean it's not like that's a slap on the wrist or anything (I hope!)

KimmieBrie

Recently Dharun Ravi, former roommate of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, has been making headlines as his case progresses. As most of you know, Ravi and a classmate set up a webcam in Clementi's dorm room in attempt to view Clementi's sexual encounters. Following this, Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.

My question is, how do you feel that Ravi, or all bullies, really, should be punished? Should Ravi be held responsible for Clementi's death (therefore being charged with manslaughter), or is it unfair to deem someone "responsible" for another person's suicide? What consequences do you see as appropriate when it comes to bullying, or suicide as a result of bullying?

While I find his act repulsive, I don't hold him responsible for someone else's suicide. His act is the equivelant of a pervert putting a camera in the ladies room or anyone else putting a video camera somewhere hidden. Those are the crimes and consequences he should be dealing with. It's not equal to manslughter.

A suicide is a choice, and without a clear explanation by the person departing, all we can do is guess the reasons why... and even if the person stated why - ultimately the responsibility lies with them.

_VoV

I doubt Ravi's intent was to cause someone to commit suicide. That said, I don't think he should be charged with manslaughter. The law needs to evolve to deal with bullying and harrassment, which can be an extreme form of aggression which makes a victim feel unsafe. Ultimately, I believe we are all responsible for our own reactions to bullying of this sort. Extreme humiliation, such as that suffered by Tyler Clementi, might feel like the end of the world, but it's really not. Ravi should be charged with invading Clementi's privacy, which will probably not result in the sort of punishment some of us would like to see, but abusing the law for short-term gains tends to end badly.

daffodilsoup

I agree with most of the posts here - while Ravi shouldn't be charged with manslaughter, I do find him to be a pretty repulsive human being.

I would expect him to be expelled from Rutgers University, and in all honesty, if I were a business owner or a landlord, I wouldn't hire him, nor allow him to live in my building. He showed a truly ugly side of his character, and somehow I feel that many other consequences will play out naturally.

BrettPGH

I'm assuming he can still get some pretty moderate-to-serious jail time based solely on the charge of videotaping others in a sex act without their knowledge and distributing it without their permission.. I mean I'm no lawyer (the exception being this coming Tuesday) but I have to assume you get put away for a little while for a stunt like that. Am I wrong?

fbmandy55

I can't believe I am about to say this...but: maybe there should be a new charge in place for situations such as these. Something along the lines of "tormenting someone to end their life" and your punishment be very harsh.

MikeSEA

I think his actions contributed to the suicide. Is it manslaughter? That's the finer point of law. It's not murder because I don't think he intended to kill. From my very limited understanding, I believe manslaughter involves being negligent and the result being someone's death.

He knew what he was doing wasn't ok. He tried to cover it up. It was a terrible error in judgment that resulted in someone's death. Kind of sounds close to manslaughter to me. How much responsibility do we place on Ravi and how much do we place on Clementi?

Suicide is ultimately a selfish choice (I say that as someone who's dealt with suicide in my family), but if someone opens that door for you and nudges you in, yeah I think get should more than a slap on the wrist for it.

Azdak

I don't think you can make a general statement one way or the other. Each of these cases will have different particulars, different levels of intent, recklessness, etc.

Unless one has the actual, sworn testimony, facts, etc available, I think it is extremely difficult to judge these types of cases.

There will be some that cross the legal definition of some type of reckless homicide, there are other incidents that won't.

kit_katty

I think bullying should have some series consequences, especially once one is an adult. As a child, there should be enough punishment to seriously make them reconsider every doing so again.

As for manslaughter etc. There have been cases where people were bullied, specifically online actually saying that the person should commit suicide, and in some instances, they actually did eventually commit suicide. I think that if it can be proven that this was the intent, manslaughter or even murder charges should be brought to bare. Or make a new category that actually represents this concept more fully.

KimmieBrie

I think his actions contributed to the suicide. Is it manslaughter? That's the finer point of law. It's not murder because I don't think he intended to kill. From my very limited understanding, I believe manslaughter involves being negligent and the result being someone's death.

He knew what he was doing wasn't ok. He tried to cover it up. It was a terrible error in judgment that resulted in someone's death. Kind of sounds close to manslaughter to me. How much responsibility do we place on Ravi and how much do we place on Clementi?

Suicide is ultimately a selfish choice (I say that as someone who's dealt with suicide in my family), but if someone opens that door for you and nudges you in, yeah I think get should more than a slap on the wrist for it.

I think my problem is what he did does not meet the criteria for any of the definitions of manslaughter... I do not think everyone's limits are the same. It is impossible to predict that this type of action would cause a death. Suicide is a personal choice. Unless you KNOW the person is "suicidal" and intentionally commit acts to push them towards that goal, I don't see it as coming close to manslaughter even the involuntary term. Treating another badly is wrong. Video taping someone in violation of their privacy is wrong, however it's not manslaughter. Criminally negligent still means you are aware of the high risk of death or should be, and act anyway resulting in death, again I don't see that it applies. Of course what he did was horribly wrong disgusting behavior and in violation of other laws, but I don't think the outcome was predictable.

It would be very difficult to come up with a bullying law that would work for everyone. Some people say being called a name is bullying... True bullying I have seen and in children it has horrible effects - but again, this varies from child to child. Some are much more resilient than others. Everyone's definition of bullying seems to differ.

MikeSEA

I think his actions contributed to the suicide. Is it manslaughter? That's the finer point of law. It's not murder because I don't think he intended to kill. From my very limited understanding, I believe manslaughter involves being negligent and the result being someone's death.

He knew what he was doing wasn't ok. He tried to cover it up. It was a terrible error in judgment that resulted in someone's death. Kind of sounds close to manslaughter to me. How much responsibility do we place on Ravi and how much do we place on Clementi?

Suicide is ultimately a selfish choice (I say that as someone who's dealt with suicide in my family), but if someone opens that door for you and nudges you in, yeah I think get should more than a slap on the wrist for it.

I think my problem is what he did does not meet the criteria for any of the definitions of manslaughter... I do not think everyone's limits are the same. It is impossible to predict that this type of action would cause a death. Suicide is a personal choice. Unless you KNOW the person is "suicidal" and intentionally commit acts to push them towards that goal, I don't see it as coming close to manslaughter even the involuntary term. Treating another badly is wrong. Video taping someone in violation of their privacy is wrong, however it's not manslaughter. Criminally negligent still means you are aware of the high risk of death or should be, and act anyway resulting in death, again I don't see that it applies. Of course what he did was horribly wrong disgusting behavior and in violation of other laws, but I don't think the outcome was predictable.

It would be very difficult to come up with a bullying law that would work for everyone. Some people say being called a name is bullying... True bullying I have seen and in children it has horrible effects - but again, this varies from child to child. Some are much more resilient than others. Everyone's definition of bullying seems to differ.

I guess we'll just have to leave it to actual professionals and see how it plays out then.