Legal Studies: The Court Case Of Vickie Lee Roach

Sam Richards

Legal Studies:

Vicki Lee Roach

On December the 14th, 2002, Vickie Lee Roach, in a failed attempt to evade police after a robbery gone wrong, smashed into a young mans car, inflicting grievous burns to over 45 percent of his body. She was sentenced to 6 years prison with a non-parole period of 4 years. In 2006, the Coalition, under the hard line right wing John Howard, passed the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act that made it impossible for any prisoner to vote during their period of incarceration. Prior to this, prisoners voting rights were protected under the the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (amended 1983). The Electoral act of 1918 made it possible for any prisoner serving under

Having been abandoned by her mother at birth, she was sent to live with foster parents who imposed a strict regime of schooling and discipline upon her. At 13, Roaches foster parents sent her back to live with her mother, considering Vicki to be 'undesirable'. Although Vickie was happy to be back in the care her biological mother, she was still desperate for money. At 14, she was forced to turn to prostitution in order to survive. From this point on, an ever growing criminal record, usually for petty crimes, resulted in several stints in prison. After her conviction and imprisonment for robbery and dangerous driving, Roach gained newfound purpose when Prisoners were stripped of their voting rights. Citing her past as one of the main reasons she pursued the case in court, Vickie stated that 'after years of feeling useless, I could finally do some good for others like me.' It was Vickie Lee Roach that went to lawyers in order to determine if there was potential to launch a test case. It is important to note that Vickie not be restoring her own voting rights in her attempt to restore Victoria's voting practices to the status quo, as she was serving 6 years. This was a case of principle for Vickie, rather than one for personal gain. A test case can be conducted in order to establish a common law precedent in an area of law where one did not currently exist. Alternatively, a test case can also be designed to gain a court

The outcome was hailed a victory for representative government, democracy, government accountability and fundamental human rights. However, perhaps the biggest social issue related to the case, the result was in essence a vindication of Indigenous and Aboriginal rights. Obvious social issues applied in the case, after all, societal prejudice against prisoners is what first spawned the Howard governments blanket ban of prisoners voting rights. However, Aboriginal issues were also called into question, as Indigenous Australians are incarcerated at a rate 13 times higher than that of non Indigenous Australians. The case also brought to light serious flaws relating to the system of representative and accountable government. The legal issues in the case directly related to prisoners structural rights, and the concept of representative government. Vickie did not believe that a government could truly be 'by the people, for the people' if all citizens did not get a say. The case also bought into question whether it was 'constitutional' for the government to overrule previous legislation in an attempt to disenfranchise all prisoners from voting.

The High Court on considering the arguments from both Vickie Lee Roach and the Commonwealth of Australia/ Australian Electoral Commission ruled in favour of Vickie. The High court