Judge "sending message" with Ravi sentence

(CBS News) The judge in the Tyler Clementi webcam spying case was sending a message with Dharun Ravi's 30-day jail sentence, "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty said on Tuesday "CBS This Morning."

"Even during the trial (Judge Glenn Berman) thought this law was muddled," Moriarty said. "He did not feel that the New Jersey legislature had anticipated this kind of action to be included as a hate crime. There was no violence, threat of violence, so the judge was basically saying, 'I'm not going to make this young man have this entire sentence for a law that I don't believe was intended for this.'"

Ravi was convicted in March of 15 criminal counts, including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy, for using his webcam to view his 18-year-old roommate Clementi kissing another man in September 2010. Clementi committed suicide, jumping off New York's George Washington Bridge, just days after the online peeping.

In addition to Ravi's jail time - expected to begin next week - Ravi will serve three years' probation, must pay $1,900 in fines, serve 300 hours of community service and pay $10,000 to a charity that helps victims of bias crimes.

Both sides are expected to appeal.

Moriarty said the judge took a middle ground with his ruling, making a point to mention that Ravi tried to cover his tracks after the spying, deleting 86 text messages from his cell phone. Moriarty said, "(The judge) could have overturned the verdict right when the jury came back. That would have been a bigger deal. I think now he knows, 'OK, maybe I'll be overturned and then I'll have to re-sentence him.'"

CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford also discussed the ruling and why this is "a message case." Watch the full "CBS This Morning" segment in the video above.