Sophia Rosing ex University of Kentucky student sentenced to 1 year jail for racial abuse and assault of black girl, Kyla Spring as commentators question whether the sentencing was too harsh?
Disconcert has come to the fore following the revelation that a former Kentucky student caught on camera assaulting a black student while repeatedly also calling her the N word will now have to spend a year in jail following last week’s sentencing of the disgraced student.
Sophia Rosing a former University of Kentucky was sentenced to a 12-month prison term after pleading guilty to charges of assault, disorderly conduct and public intoxication. As part of her prison term and presumably the potential nature of revenge ‘meetings’ the 23 year old will serve her term in ‘protective custody,’ a judge ruled, ABC 36 reported.
Rosing, who is white, and who was in a torrent drunken stupor, was heard repeatedly using the racial slurs as she proceeded to beat up then-19-year-old student worker Kyla Spring at a campus residence hall in November 2022.
University of Kentucky student Sophia Rosing arrested and charged after assaulting another student who was at work and calling her a “nigger bitch”https://t.co/kzNRYupfj8 pic.twitter.com/WuOi4Stauo
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 6, 2022
Political correctness and racism
At the time, the victim, an employee of the school, had tried to check on the ‘inebriated’ Rosing upon entering a campus dorm, only to endure the drunk woman’s wrath and insolence.
‘The girl starts saying things like ‘Do my chores,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re black,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re ugly,’ and at this point, she’s like singing the N-word,’ Spring recalled.
But rather than ease up when police were called, Rosing only continued her bad behaviour, with the woman accused of kicking and biting a cop during a manic out of control episode.
The episode led to Rosing, who was a senior at the time being banned from campus and becoming national tabloid fodder. Her name and public image forever circumvented.
As part of her punishment, Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy Vanmeter also ordered Rosing to do 100 hours of community service on Thursday, the Courier Journal reported.
Her lawyer, Fred Peters, responding to the one year jail term, told the Lexington Herald Leader that the prison sentence was ‘excessive.’
He explained because of the nature of the offenses, she will serve her prison sentence under protective custody at the Fayette County Detention Center.
‘What she said was awful,’ Peters conceded, along with the added caveat, ‘She got into a scuffle with the clerk and bit people on the hand, [but] I think she did not deserve a sentence of 12 months in prison for the very first offense her in life.’
It’s these comments and sentiments that led to a wide range of responses on social media, with some stating the one year sentencing was appropriate (who knew words could hurt so much, vile as they were) while others wondered if something else was going on?
Social media responds to controversial 1 year jail sentencing
Below are a sampling of responses on social media that caught this author’s attention. See what you think? And feel free to join in the discussion.
‘This is over the top. The “crime” does NOT fit the punishment.’
‘What she did was undeniably inappropriate; however, it is important to consider her youth and the fact that she has no prior criminal record. A one-year prison sentence seems to be an excessively harsh penalty in this context. It is noteworthy that there are individuals who have committed serious offenses without facing any repercussions. Therefore, this punishment appears to be disproportionately severe.’
‘I agree with this sentence. It’s just that in another news you said a woman who left a baby in a dumpster got the same sentence, but won’t be in jail. So I’m really wondering. When as a society we accepted that hurling racist slurs is worst than killing babies?’
‘Alcohol often times brings out the real person. This young woman clearly was exposed to these biases while growing up. Her parents did her no favors and failed in their parenting.’
‘There’s no way-on-earth that a young ‘first time offender’ minority student would have received the same punishment / sentence for the same offense (as despicable as it was towards that sweet, undeserving and totally innocent young lady) as this young non-minority ‘first time offender’ was given. I doubt that it would even have gone to court. Such is the political, gender-driven and racially divided climate that we all live in today. There is no longer any sensible allowance and/or latitude made for youthful mistakes that many of us might have made during our ‘formative’ years. (And the answer is ‘No – I did not utter the same disparaging / despicable assertions during my youth) I sincerely hope that the young lady / offender learns a valuable lesson from her despicable diatribe towards an, obviously, wonderful and forgiving young woman / victim. But taking a sledge-hammer to crack-a-walnut is not the solution in this particular case – it is simply overkill.’
‘It’s a message to everyone who would dare say the wrong words. Soon, saying anything negative about the government or politicians will become a crime just like this one. It’s a slippery slope.’