Hang your head in shame Justice Peters.

You should be rightly embarrassed and consider the fact that sentences like yours display gross incompetence and just how out-of-touch you are with public sentiment on sentencing of child-beaters.
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For immediate release:

Justice Mary Peters: what have you done??

Yesterday in the Napier High Court Justice Mary Peters failed law-abiding New Zealander’s and a baby girl whose legs were broken by her father in five places. At the same time she has raised serious questions about her suitability as a Justice of the High Court of New Zealand.

The case involved a James Hall. He appeared for sentencing for the repeated assaults upon his own infant daughter. Make no mistake - this was offending of the worst kind against a defenceless baby. The crown prosecutor sought a starting point of four years jail. Even Hall’s own lawyer sought a starting point of two years jail.

Enter Justice Mary Peters!

She started at three years and three months. But wait... she then made reductions for Hall's youth (I didn’t realise adults over the age of 18 were youths??) and his early acknowledgement of guilt, and sentenced (if you can call it that) Hall to 12 months' home detention. She what?? Yes – apparently you can break a baby’s legs in 5 places, plead guilty and get to spend the next 12 months living at home.

Excuse me Justice Mary Peters but you have to be (expletive) kidding?

Contrary to the ideological belief of Justice Peters, the justice system needs to work for the law-abiding, not the law-breaking.

What has come to pass in recent years has been the judicial ideological viewpoint that it is ok to go soft on serious offenders. Make no mistake, the criminal justice system is not, and was never intended to be, the attempted preventative welfare-style organisation that it has come to resemble today. There are already a plethora of government and non-profit community groups who are supposed to catch people before they enter the criminal justice system. What the criminal justice system does is carry the collective stick of society and with it the responsibility for keeping law-abiding citizens safe from criminals and to actually punish those who break the rules; and in that seemingly straight-forward task, it is failing.

As for Justice Peters pathetic sentence sending any kind of message of deterrence – well forget it.

It seems the next step for her will be handing out merit certificates to offenders... She is a disgrace to her position and the New Zealand public should rightly abhor her lack of respect for the values of ordinary kiwi’s who DO NOT think it is ok to beat their kids.

Hang your head in shame Justice Peters.

You should be rightly embarrassed and consider the fact that sentences like yours display gross incompetence and just how out-of-touch you are with public sentiment on sentencing of child-beaters. Let’s hope the crown appeal this sentence to gain justice for the defenceless victim of this crime whom Justice Peters essentially let off scott-free.

Sensible Sentencing Trust
Wellington Branch

Sensible Sentencing Trust
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