[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONVICTION OF DHARUN RAVI

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week, a jury in New Jersey convicted 
Dharun Ravi for violations of New Jersey criminal laws against bias 
intimidation and invasion of privacy. Mr. Ravi had used a Webcam to spy 
on and then publicize an intimate encounter between his college 
roommate, Tyler Clementi, and another man. Tragically, Mr. Clementi 
became so distraught that he took his own life.
  Young men and women should not be bullied or shamed because of their 
sexual orientation. It is incumbent on every segment of society to do 
what we can to stop bullying in schools and in our communities. As 
Tyler Clementi's father said after the jury verdict was announced:

       To our college, high school and even middle school 
     youngsters, I would say this: You're going to meet a lot of 
     people in your lifetime. Some of these people you may not 
     like. But just because you don't like them does not mean you 
     have to work against them.

  I can only imagine the Clementi family's grief and suffering over 
their loss. I applaud the efforts they are making to raise awareness 
about the real dangers of bullying on American campuses.
  The Senate is also taking steps to address the growing problem of 
bullying. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of Senator Casey's Safe 
Schools Improvement Act, which requires schools to establish bullying 
prohibition policies and would help educators identify and address any 
conduct based on a student's actual or perceived race, color, religion, 
gender, disability, or sexual orientation. Another bill that I support 
is the Student Non-Discrimination Act introduced by Senator Franken, 
which would define harassment as a form of discrimination in our public 
schools. Both bills have more than 35 cosponsors and deserve full 
consideration by the Senate. It has been well documented that students 
who are paralyzed by fear of bullying cannot effectively learn. 
Congress should help ensure that States and schools have the tools they 
need to prevent or punish bullying in any form. We must do more to 
ensure that all students are protected and can thrive in their schools.
  In the aftermath of Dharun Ravi's conviction in New Jersey, there has 
been some commentary on hate crimes laws generally. Some have wondered 
whether hate crimes laws criminalize thoughts or beliefs and have the 
effect of chilling free speech. Others have expressed confusion whether 
Mr. Ravi could have been prosecuted under our recently passed Federal 
hate crimes law.
  As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, let me clarify the 
scope of Federal hate crimes statutes. First, the Matthew Shepard and 
James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act protects the constitutional 
right of every individual to have her own thoughts and beliefs and 
express them in a lawful manner. The law does not prohibit or punish 
speech, expression, or association in any way--even hate speech. The 
Constitution does not permit us in Congress to prohibit the expression 
of an idea simply because we disagree with it.
  The Matthew Shepard Act punishes physical violence, not speech. The 
law requires the defendant to have caused or attempted to cause bodily 
injury to the victim while being motivated by the victim's sexual 
orientation or another defined characteristic. Importantly, the 
defendant in a Federal hate crimes case must have acted willfully. In 
other words, the defendant must have voluntarily and intentionally 
caused bodily injury to the victim. From what we know of the Ravi case, 
the defendant could not have been prosecuted under the Matthew Shepard 
Act because Mr. Ravi did not willfully cause bodily injury to Tyler 
Clementi, nor did he willfully cause the victim to take his own life.
  We know that the consequences of bias-motivated violence extend 
beyond the victim. Hate crimes instill fear in those who have no 
connection to the victim other than a shared characteristic such as 
race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual 
orientation. Preventing such consequences is the reason I offered the 
Matthew Shepard Act as an amendment to the Defense authorization bill 
more than 2 years ago. The law has already resulted in several Federal 
criminal convictions. For example, two Arkansas men were convicted 
after they targeted five Hispanic victims at a gas station and rammed 
their car off the road causing serious injuries. Two other men in New 
Mexico were convicted under this statute for branding a disabled Navajo 
man with a swastika while writing the words ``KKK'' and ``white power'' 
on his body.
  The Ravi prosecution was brought under New Jersey's laws, which are 
different from our Federal hate crimes laws.

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