Wednesday 7 October 2009

‘Crime’ & Punishment [updated]

061009NZHPEFIELD01_300x200It doesn’t happen often, but I’m with Psycho Milt.  There’s something wrong when helping out immigrants in return for some free tiling, and then lying about it, gets two sentences amounting to six years in total – but killing another motorist because they’ve scratched your BMW gets you just three.

There’s something wrong when those sentences for this ‘crime’ are made cumulative, when the sentences for the “human waste” who killed Karen Aim and tried to kill Zara Schofield was made concurrent, “thereby letting him off for the attempted murder and making it clear to the victim of that attempted murder exactly what the judge in that case thought she was worth: nothing.”

The message here is that taking someone’s life, or trying to, is some way down the scale of “bad things to to do in New Zealand” from a political crime – from taking some limited advantage of your position and then trying to conceal it.

Help for some immigrants in return for some free tiling -- and lies about it – these things are "...intolerable in our society and threaten the institution at the foundation of democracy and justice."  But kill people, or try to, and that’s not so bad.  That’s the message from Justice Hansen and his colleagues on the bench.

Frankly, Field has already had whatever punishment he might have actually deserved in his fall from grace and the public shaming he’s experienced.  Frankly, locking Phillip Field up for six years looks nothing like making the punishment fit the crime -- it’s more like making the punishment fit the politics.

This is not justice; it’s retribution.

Field’s real crime is that he fell out of favour with the ruling party just as they were falling out of power.  Because if taking advantage of your position and then trying to conceal it in the manner that Field did was genuinely intolerable and a threat to our institutions, then surely the collar of Bill English would be being felt about now.

5 comments:

Sinner said...

Help for some immigrants in return for some free tiling -- and lies about it – these things are "...intolerable in our society and threaten the institution at the foundation of democracy and justice." But kill people, or try to, and that’s not so bad.


on the contrary PC - I think this is really quite clear. Murder, especaily when it is done to a beneficiary or a civil servant - i.e. someone who deserves few "human rights" really doesn't affect NZ very much. Such it gets sympathy - but that's basically nothing but a vestigial religious impulse.


But political corruption - that is totally corrosive to the whole country. The full accounting of the Labour party corruption is yet to be told - clearly it is at least 30% of NZ's economy and productibity, that's 30% of from ever man, woman, and child in the country. Simply in terms of people who died through not getting cancer drugs, it is far far worse than a couple of murders . Sure, Field is the tip of the iceberg, but that doesn't mean just because Hellen isn't in jail we should go easy on Field!


Much better that murders go free, than that corrupt politicians, indeed all labour politicians and unionists and lefties of all sorts are punished by all means necessary.

Nick said...

The thing that angers me the most in this situation is that our government is failing in its most basic duty, to protect its citizens. Don't forget PC the makutu murderers who didnt even get prison time. If the founders of this nation knew that this was going on, crime is out of control, and police are under resourced, at the same time the govt takes a third of our earnings every year to give out in benefits, fund numerous pc commissions etc, they would be turning in their grave.

Elijah Lineberry said...

A bit lost finding the relevance here...

Field got six years for being a criminal Labour MP; a three year sentence was given to this O'Brien chappie for a spot of road rage.

The two cases are hardly similar; hardly apples with apples.

The reason we leave sentencing up to Judges is so that bloggers, loonies and talkback callers do not have anything to do which such important matters.

Justice Potter had her reasons and acted accordingly.

Sinner said...


Field got six years for being a criminal Labour MP; a three year sentence was given to this O'Brien chappie for a spot of road rage.

The two cases are hardly similar; hardly apples with apples.





know what, you're quite right Elijah. Field is far worse than a double murder. His sentence is disgusting.

mark said...

NO this is corruption at the highest level in the country where if you break the law you can just change it.

6 years is not long enough it should of been ten.

Do we want a society of corruption or not.

I think not so therefore the punishement should be servre, like all crime.