Earlier today a New Jersey judge sentenced Dharun Ravi to 30 days in jail for spying and intimidating his gay Rutgers University roommate, Tyler Clementi, who killed himself in September 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Clementi’s suicide came shortly after he found out Ravi spied on him using a webcam while he was intimate with a man in their dorm room. Ravi also faces three years probation, community service to assist victims of bias crimes, and he must pay $11,000 in restitution.

Reaction to Judge Glenn Berman's ruling has been varied with some calling for a harsher punishment, and others praising the decision. Former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey has a different take on the case – he's speaking out against jail time for Ravi.

McGreevey, who resigned as governor in 2004 after announcing he’s “a gay American,” wrote in an op-ed article in The Star-Ledger, "The gay community, which has suffered for so long at the hands of the law, has historically been a strong voice for decency, compassion and civil rights. And perhaps the long trail of gay history inevitably leads to this call for punishment, but it need not."

FULL POST