Death Of A Roommate

What a contrast in Tuesday’s local paper: On page one, a photo, headline, and the story of the sentencing of a young man for the death of another, a death which he states was entirely accidental. On page 8, three paragraphs and no photo, on the sentencing of a young man for his role in the death of another, a death in which he states he had no direct intent to cause the other young man’s death.

Without any discussion of the deeds themselves, recognizing the vast difference between aiming a gun at someone and invading one’s privacy, I have to wonder: What if their places had been changed? What if the young, wealthy, well schooled, Dharun Ravi had been charged, convicted, and faced sentencing for shooting his roommate with a gun during “horseplay”—A gun that he contested he had thought was not loaded. And, what if the young Aaron Feliu, a product of the mal-functioning foster care system (eventually adopted into a home where the minister-father was subsequently convicted of child molestation and pornography) without means, and of limited education, what if he had faced sentencing for using a spy camera to invade another young man’s privacy resulting in a suicide?

Frankly I don’t know “what if.” But I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that had their roles been switched the sentences would have as well.  Both cases had to do with irresponsible acts resulting in tragic outcomes. Both cases involved 20 year-old men. Both involved the death of a roommate. Both involved individuals who stated they had no intention of doing any harm whatsoever. Both cases involve the death of an 18 year-old young man. Feliu's case resulted in 3 to 15 years in prison. Ravi's resulted in 30 days in jail and probation. 

I have confidence in the U.S. judicial system. The work is often difficult, the decisions equally difficult, and the outcomes usually fair. The contrast of these two cases, however, point to a social bias that seems too old, too much of a stereotype, and too obvious to persist. But persist it does. I don’t know if it’s any more or less fair than life itself. But it’s existence is certainly hard to overlook in the remarkably similar circumstances surrounding these two cases and their remarkably different outcomes.