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Case Study Of Vickie Lee Roach

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Recommended: Do prisoners have the right to vote essay

Inmates praise Vickie Lee Roach as she regains their right to vote
Roach’s right to vote was infringed due to the 2006 amendments to commonwealth electoral act 1918 (cmwth act) which states that any prisoner serving a full time sentence at any length. The legislation breached her constitutional rights to vote.
The constitutional phrase parliament is ‘directly chosen by the people’ implies the right to Australian citizens to vote and states only those that don’t have the mental capacity are exempt, and despite so, Vickie Lee Roach and all prisoners were still denied the right to vote

Roach wasn’t pressured into this case by anyone but herself as she has legal standing due to being directly affected by it. She initiated legal action herself. …show more content…

Vickie came to us through the prison advocacy networks as a woman with an interest in and commitment to human rights and freedom, and in particular her right as a prisoner.’’ Vickie is also encouraged by other prisoners who also had their rights infringed to initiate legal action. Vickie Lee Roach challenged the validity of the 2006 amendments made to the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth), by the passage of the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006 (Cth). The amendments prohibited all prisoners who are serving a sentence of imprisonment for a Commonwealth, state or territory offence from voting in federal elections. Before the amendment only those prisoners serving a sentence of three years or longer are excluded from voting. Thus, Ms Roach is excluded from …show more content…

The decision of the court affirmed that there is a constitutional right to vote for adult members of the Australian community, which is protected by the structure of representative government. This high court did not go far as to call the right to vote an implied right, instead this right is a reflection of structural protection. Thus, representative government can act as a limit on the powers and sovereignty of the commonwealth parliament, which cannot legislate way the right to vote without good reason.
However, as Vicki Lee Roach is serving a prison term of longer than three years, and the original provisions of the Electoral Act are upheld, Ms Roach is still ineligible to vote in elections. Roach argued that the 2006 amendments to the commonwealth electoral act 1918 breached the constitution and thus her right to vote.
Vickie lee roach is extremely pleased with the outcome of the case. While she is unable to regain her right to vote, her case returned the right to thousands of

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