These numbers are given more context when compared…

A Nelson father and son were caught with 562 plants over two houses. That's a substantial operation in anyone's book. However the judge decided that there was "no evidence of a financial motive for either defendant" and sentenced them to home detention. The story…

While Kelly van Gaalen is spending two years in jail for growing a few plants, this character has a history of drugs and violence including a nine year stretch for kidnapping someone and conducting a serious and prolonged assault over drug debts.

Police raided…

This gentleman was pinged with a nice growing set up....with over 700 seeds concealed behind a skirting board for future planting.

Sentence... 40 hours' community work.

Luckily, Google remembers everything.
Original article published: Thursday, 22 October 2015

Well, quite. All that guff from McDonald J about being "troubled" by the sentence he supposedly had to impose was tosh. Good grief.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11533512

After questioning Mr Anson on how quickly home detention could be arranged, the three justices had a brief adjournment and stated the issue could be dealt with within 15 minutes upon re-entering the court.

Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins said he understood where the case was going.

"I…

I honestly believe that the quickest way…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/71043345/christchurch-lawyers-drink-driving-case-transferred-to-auckland

But there is the rub. Cannabis is usually shared, it is the people that don't share that tend to be the problem smokers, a joint for breakfast etc.
Sharing a joint with a couple of friends is the norm…

He points out the absurd inconsistency of McDonald's decision in comparison to a recent case in June in Ashburton where an Israeli couple, caught red-handed with 6kg…

How New Zealand has treated minor…

Totally. With regards to the kauri, at the time I kept trying to calculate the size of the forest if all those hours spent climbing, petitioning and liking on facebook were instead devoted to planting, but it's not…

It's very relevant to the functioning of anarchism as a political ideology: given the tree(s) are still standing.

I haven't got any particular moral position on the merits of that action – (I'm a bit more of a red than a green…

We ordinary Joes have to rely on reported cases David. And there are dozens if not hundreds of examples where more serious cases have received much lighter sentences. Surely the…

'toon, please...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10816925

Except R v Terewi, the…

Except without reading his sentencing decision and seeing what authorities he cited, we can't see if his hands…

Apart from the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, which probably wouldn't be suitable…

Hah! another time, another place, perhaps, I would like to tell you a wee story....

But...

I'm not in jail...(luckily)

And it shouldn't come down to luck for chrissakes...

It's not the lawyers' choice. It's the law as set down by the Supreme Court, upholding a long-standing chain of cases from multiple common law jurisdictions. Pleading not guilty cannot legally be an aggravating factor, but pleading guilty is a mitigating factor that justifies…

This issue is not, IMHO, about Cannabis Law.

This is about gross inconsistency in sentencing within the framework of existing law.

I admit to an almost obsessive compulsion…

Sorry!

Not for this guy;

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/10232597/Drunk-driver-avoids-jail

http://www.ahw.org.nz/resources/pdf/Violence_F_Sheet.pdf

Indeed.

And worse, it sometimes leads to:

__For every 100 alcohol or drug-impaired drivers or riders killed in road crashes, 50 of their passengers and 19 non-alcohol impaired road users die with them.
In 2012, driver alcohol was a contributing factor in…

Oh my God....
They had BEER?
Won't somebody think of the dear sweet vulnerable children?.
/s

But not about the dozen beers.

Thanks for that Rosemary. I thought I'd done a fairly comprehensive search but....

I found it disturbing that their Lawyer, Doug Blaikie and my sympathies go out to him and his family for his current health issue,…

Yeah, but if I picket Parliament – it’s just another…

Three Kaikohe men have since been jailed for their part in the attack.

Something very, very fishy about that.

Conspicuous by absence.

For starters, surely the judiciary itself could require that cellphones and iPads be turned off while court is…

Nail on the head there Russell.

Now, what quantity of shit, and from what height,…

They plead guilty. They showed remorse by going to counselling and hadn't used drugs since. That is what the Judge is taking into account.
Phil Goff…

Same here. My first thought was if by sharing her crop with friends she might well have done so to prevent…

But by pleading not guilty, she ended up going down the track toward a jail sentence . A guilty plea could…

Another consequence of an appeal could be that it may not go…

And prosecuting lawyers don't like that.

I wonder if there was some confusion about the legal meaning of the word "supply"

To some mere mortals, "supply" implies "sale"...which by all accounts, and even the Judge remarked...there was no evidence that…

Fair – though the headline about judicial caprice seems to tilt on the opposite direction.

I'm not convinced that it is 'plainly…

It’s NOT a game for goodness sake. And until the legal profession stop referring to it as such, there really is no hope.

I didn't mean to downplay it's importance with my metaphor. But, to be honest, I cannot see any way to reform the criminal (or civil) justice system(s)…

Prosecutors in New Zealand have a duty to act in a manner that is fundamentally fair. In particular Prosecutors must balance performing their obligations in a detached and objective manner while still striving to ensure that victims’ rights and expectations are fulfilled.

http://mwis.co.nz/services/crown/

So I repeat:…

I see that, and I know from personal experience that prosecuting lawyers can sometimes choose to ignore the human aspects of a case. They can relentlessly pursue, ignoring glaring inconsistencies in the police case because, once in the hunt for fresh meat...

And the only real hope is…

I agree that a less strident prosecutor might have recommended a community-based sentence. However our collective disgust…

Actually not at all — there's very good reasons why we separate the judicial and legislative branches of government. Isn't there?

Me too.

No, to send a message to a Crown Prosecutor who might have exercised her professional judgement poorly. If the Crown gave/gives specific instruction to their prosecutors regarding sentencing recommendations on a trial-by-trial basis, then fair enough,…

I wonder what the Crown lawyer in the Maki Herbert case asked for?

Again, like the case of the men who committed the home invasion at the van…

To what end? To try and force them not to work for the Crown?

Sure, taking their business…

Being an anarcho-pacifist, yes, that's a good idea. I'll email her now and let you know the outcome.

All valid questions. Do you intend to look for the answers before picketing the office? Or are the pitchforks sharpened and torches lit?

Three years time for a victimless crime?

.

I am not arguing that the lawyer should have refused to act. My beef is with the Crown Prosecutors recommendation on sentencing for a 3 year custodial sentence.. Was that her client, the Crown's specific instruction regarding this specific case? Or…

All we can do is give the client our best professional assessment of the merits of particular choices. Sometimes that advice…

Not generally correct. Chapter 4.1 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 provides:

4.1 Good cause to refuse to accept instructions includes a lack of available time, the instructions falling outside the lawyer's normal field of practice, instructions that could require…

So I'd imagined. Given the muted level of outrage from legal quarters when Clayton Weatherston's learned friends enabled – and presumably encouraged – his defence of provocation, I'm wondering if they would be defended as "just doing their job". There are times when it seems one would…

Oh please. I could excuse the folks flogging off fast food for a living at Burger King as "just doing their job" in selling that crap, but lawyers have choices.

I'll think on the placards overnight and get back to you.

Katharine is welcome to protest all she likes – I just wish that she would take some time to understand that the target of her opprobrium is merely doing their job just like my partner. The prosecutor is just a cog in…

one woman is convicted for growing 153 cannabis plants for supply and gets 12 months home detention....

....less than a month later another woman is convicted of possession of cannabis for supply and gets sentenced to two years in jail.

The Judge in the second case..…

To be clear, what I am weary of is that for any protest movement there is always a ready supply of opponents prepared to step up and dismiss it as ‘misinformed’ and reduce the act of protest to…

Nope, I live in NZ. Do you?

Do you ever moonlight for the Westboro Baptist Church?

I am the partner of a prominant criminal defence barrister. We have had boulders thrown through…

And that's what I'm saying – those folks who live in Whangarei and elsewhere locally that might be existing and/or potential future clients should boycott the firm in a very public way.

Sure, taking their business down for just "playing the…

Once again, don't inflate my argument. I'm talking about an issue for which the democratic process has so far simply not worked. And I'm sick of seeing some of the poorest…

So you don't think anything can be solved…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/70917860/kelly-van-gaalen-supporters-want-bail-for-cannabis-sentence

Legalise Cannabis Party member Maki Herbert was charged with cultivation for supply of 153 plants.

She was sentenced to 12 months home detention and 12 months post sentencing on July 4.

Herbert says the disparity in her and Van Gaalen's sentences is "absolutely…

A good lawyer can get your case shifted to…

And we wonder why morale is so low in our police force.

In the case of the Police....that is exactly the country we're living in.

Yes. I don't have a particular quarrel with the police or the Crown prosecutor for that very reason. On the other hand, that Salient story does give a pretty strong indication that the police have been "decriminalising" cannabis by that…

Quite right – and neither can any democratic process. But threaten the commercial arm which benefits from the folly – and you just watch how quickly those in power respond. Much of the power the public has lies in…

Yeah, that’s why it can look like a lottery.…

Hmmm,,,,small town Far North.

Two youth passing a rugby ball get spoken to by the local Police. "Go play in the park." "Not allowed," says one youth, "we're not allowed in the park because the gangs hang out there..."

Police…

And yet I was easily able to find examples of same that did not attract a custodial sentence.

My former (and now deceased) neighbour was caught manufacturing heroin and didn't go to jail, despite a long…

Shit.

Now that in itself says much.

Of course not – stop sensationalising what I’m saying. As Russell points out the Law Commission and two Parliamentary select committee inquiries say the law is an ass. I’m sick and tired of watching my fellow countrymen and woman and in…

No. But given that he had plenty to say about his decision, surely he'd have mentioned any material factors such as those you've noted?

I've just been told that the reason we haven't heard from…

Where are you getting that info from ?

No the police did that. They had the option of a warning, confiscation and destruction. But, by bringing charges, they are sending a message saying anyone doing anything outside the law better not ask for…

The post says the opposite. It was the judge who claimed to have no discretion – the examples I provided were intended to demonstrate that was plainly…

Well, good luck with that. Do let us know how you get on.

I think Rich is right. Lots of people say they care about decriminalising cannabis, but their behaviour suggests otherwise, and the political parties know that very well. That's…

I agree they will – provided the right action is taken by civil society. And that action has nothing to do with scientific evidence or rational studies in criminology – that's all been treid and exhausted. So, attack the establishment at every periphery,…

Hence, some judges might see a harsh…

Ah, but it is to them...in my experience.

You sit in a courtroom.

The players...The Lawyer for your side chatting and joking with the Lawyer for their side.

Looking at photos on each other's i phone (and the Judge having to suspend proceedings…

Sentencing can sometimes look like a bit of a lottery (which…

It’s NOT a game for goodness sake. And until the legal profession stop referring to it as such, there really is no hope. That’s my whole point – the profession can no longer dehumanise the…

While what the prosecutor is effectively doing is deterring cannabis cultivators from reporting incidental crime.

?

Please explain...who am I targeting?

Who am I railing against?

I'm kinda feeling singled out here...

Yes, a "routine game", I agree, and that's part of the problem as I see it.

Tone?

Also, to pick up on other comments, you're targetting the wrong actor here. In fact, you're committing the very same mistake that Garth McVicar, et al, do whenever they rail against defence lawyers who use the system to protect criminals.

off topic and all – but i still become gobsmacked each time read/hear that

7 Purposes of sentencing or otherwise dealing with offenders
(1) The purposes for which a court may sentence or otherwise deal with an offender are—
[…]
(f) to deter…

To be fair, even Philips' lawyer was realistic about jail time. Van Gaalen seems a significantly different…

so, the child porn perveing lawyer was a figment of my imagination then?

some lawyers are better than others (including Crown Prosecutors).

No shit, Sherlock.…

Few quick points:
– Any sentence of two years imprisonment or below can be turned instead into home detention.
– As there's no parole etc for home D, the rule of thumb is to halve…

Which is why ‘official channels’ just don’t cut the mustard.

PS Simon Bridges was a Crown Prosecutor – more than enough proof to me that we needn't put them all up on a Mr/Ms upstanding citizen, for-the-good-of-the-community pedestal.

Yeah, nah. Legal privilege is a valid reason for withholding info. Also, just OIA in NZ (or LGOIMA for local governmant). FOIA is US only. ;-)

No, as I said, the client would be Crown Law. Crown Law is the government's law firm. It works closely with police in terms of prosecutions, and some police officers are Crown Prosecutors. I didn't say that this approach would…

Hah! That would be the Law Society that gave a child porn viewing lawyer a pass because child porn is a victimless crime?

I know it was long ago....some some shit just persists...

So..if Gisler was acting under instructions...that would be the police?…

Make a complaint to the Law Society, if you want (which is the standard practice for dealing with mis-behaving lawyers), but a Crown Prosecutor for hire operates…

Not really – all the profiles for the Crown team solicitors are blank.

The injustice of this sentence when compared with the police prosecutor who received a mere $450 fine for messing with meth, is mind boggling.

This is exactly the sort of case where NORML…

Hold them to account for pursuing the accused in a manner that is arguably morally and professionally deficient.

So that we can avoid the scenario of mere…

The idea of boycotting or picketing legal firms because of the position they advocate for in a trial is a dangerous suggestion. It might sound superficially appealing in relation to this case, but think about, for example, a defence lawyer who defends an…

The Whangarei community should boycott/picket the firm;

http://mwis.co.nz/about-us/

The system needs to be attacked from all sides.

http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/08/05/mother-of-3-jailed-for-2-years-the-madness-of-nzs-cannabis-laws/#comment-297037

inconsistent is an understatement.

There is much more to this than meets the eye....and for the life of me, I can't find anything much about the trial of the dudes that did the home…

A couple caught with a fairly sophisticated indoor grow and 6kg of weed and … discharged.

There were unusual circumstances – the couple were Israelis who already planned to leave the country – but it further underlines what complete bullshit Judge…