Is Something Wrong with NZ's Justice System?

Prof Lisa Marriott.  pm207

If you come from a privileged background and steal $4 million, you could be jailed for as little as two years.  Come from a poor background, hit someone when drunk and disorderly and you'd be jailed for very much longer.   
This suggests there's something seriously wrong with our justice system. 

Victoria University Prof Lisa Marriott comments on the disparity between jail sentences, and the aggravating and mitigating factors influencing parole. Listen to what she says by clicking on the video link below, or read the article that has less detail.


White collar criminals are a third less likely  to be imprisoned for their crimes than benefit fraudsters. -- ACW

Former Ministry of Transport senior manager Joanne Harrison has been granted parole after serving less than half of her three-year-and-seven-month sentence for stealing $725,000 of taxpayers' money.

Victoria University professor and academic fraud and sentencing expert Lisa Marriott joined TVNZ's Breakfast this morning to discuss the Ministry of Transport fraudster and how privilege affects sentences.

Ms Marriott said of Ms Harrison's case, "It might look like [a light sentence], but in fact, Joanne Harrison, compared to a lot of other white collar offenders, has served, actually, a pretty long sentence".

She said the case could be compared to former chief executive of Auckland's Heart of the City business organisation Alex Swney, who stole over $4 million – six times more than the amount stolen by Ms Harrison – and served just 22 months in prison.

"His sentence looked a lot harsher – his sentence was about five-and-a-half years – but he served a third of it… so actually, he served less time in prison than Joanne Harrison did," she said.

Ms Marriot also discussed her research into offending and sentencing of white collar criminals who commit tax evasion to that of benefit fraudsters.

"Conceptually, they’re identical. The victims are the same, so with that piece of research, what that shows is that – as a tax evader, you can offend for about three times the amount and have about a third of the likelihood of going to prison, so there’s a real difference in the way that we treat – effectively – privileged offenders in New Zealand."

She said there's "no easy answer" to why white collar criminals are treated differently, but added that there are "some things that you can point to", including the profile of the white collar offenders.

"They tend to be older. They tend to be quite well-educated, they’re very well-resourced, which means, in fact, you’re going into your prosecution in a much better place anyway. They’re also, as far as profile goes again, Joanne Harrison doesn't fit that profile because they tend to be men and they tend to be older, so again, you can put some of it, at least, down to privilege."

Ms Marriot says it would help the New Zealand justice system "if we could have a wee bit more transparency around how some of these sentences were determined, and even, actually - based on looking at what's happened with comparing Joanne Harrison and Alex Swney – looking at some of the decision-making in that parole board as well, because if you read those two parole board reports, there’s actually nothing in there that would make you immediately aware of why one person served a third of their sentence and the other one served nearly twice as long".

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/white-collar-criminals-third-less-likely-imprisoned-their-crimes-than-benefit-fraudsters