A law expert says a prison term could be deemed the appropriate punishment in a high-profile hit-and-run case.
Crown Law is currently considering whether to appeal the home detention sentence initially handed down to Rouxle Le Roux.
15-year-old Nathan Kraatskow died after he was hit by a car she was driving at an Auckland intersection in May.
Le Roux was sentenced to 11 months' home detention, but that could be overturned in what would be an unprecedented response.
A petition to appeal the sentence has received more than 110,000 signatures, and the case has been referred to the Solicitor-General's office to consider an appeal.
Nathan's father, Orion Kraatskow, says that the family just wants "justice served", and hopes "this is a step forward in that direction".
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Nathan Kraatskow was cycling home when he was hit by Le Roux's car on Auckland's North Shore. He died at the scene, but Le Roux didn't stop, and even went to a panelbeater before turning herself in to police 16 hours later.
After Nathan's death, Le Roux posted a photo on Instagram on Halloween, showing her dressed as a prisoner with the caption "hide your children".
At sentencing, Le Roux's lawyer said her client accepted the post wasn't appropriate.
But Dr Bill Hodge, a professor of law at The University of Auckland, says the sentencing took into account great remorse, and Le Roux's photo shows the opposite.
"The photograph may eliminate the so-called genuine remorse - and if you take genuine remorse out of the mix, then a jail sentence may be appropriate," he said.
Andrew Little, the Minister of Justice, says the Government can't intervene in such cases.
"One of the options the Crown has is if the Crown or the police aren't satisfied with a sentence, they can lodge an appeal. But that's got to be a decision taken without political interference."
The Kraatskows are off to Wellington tomorrow to hand in their petition. National MP Mark Mitchell has called for MPs from across the political spectrum to join him in accepting it.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that they must proceed with caution.
"I haven't checked in as to whether that's a request that's gone to our Labour MPs, but again from a Minister's perspective, we need to act cautiously."
Crown Law has 20 working days from the date the sentence was imposed to decide whether to file the appeal.
A spokesperson from Crown Law says it expects the decision to be made in January.
Newshub.
