Story here, about an 18-year-old college freshman, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after his roommate and his roommate's friend surreptitiously videotaped him having a sexual encounter with another male, livestreamed it, and tweeted about it:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/30/...ex.html?hpt=T2
I am glad to note that the two announcers in the video seem to be barely able to hold back their utter disdain for the two idiots who tormented Clementi.
The two students are now facing a variety of invasion-of-privacy charges, to which some sort of hate crime charges may be added. According to news reports current as I write this, they potentially face 5 years of jail time.
So, what should happen to these two worthless excuses for human beings? Should they go to jail? Should they be let off the hook? Or somewhere in between?
Because of their youth (which doesn't really excuse their behavior - geez, my 12 year old knows better than to behave like that!) I guess I wouldn't send them to jail (well, maybe for a week or two). But they should be scared shitless right now that this is what is going to happen, and they should remain scared shitless about the consequences of their actions for a nice long time. Alsoo, they should be expelled from Rutgers, assigned a really, really, REALLY huge amount of community service (preferably working with victims of hate crimes), and made to pay a big fine.
Whether all that could be worked out within the confines of the legal system I have no idea, but that's what I'd like to see happen. I think. I'm so disgusted I can hardly put together a coherent thought. Suggestions from others?