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LEARNING TO GIVE DOR ORG
I keep on telling people to write that it’s our right as Americans.
Right to Petition Government (The)
By Elisia Hahnenberg
Graduate Student, Grand Valley State University
To understand the definition of the concept, right to petition government, one must first understand where this concept originates. The right to petition is one of the fundamental freedoms of all Americans, and is documented in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The First Amendment consists of five “freedoms,” which are: Religion, Free Speech, Free Press, Assembly, and Petition. The Petition section of the first amendment, also commonly referred to as the Petition Clause, states that “People have the right to appeal to government in favor of or against policies that affect them or in which they feel strongly. This freedom includes the right to gather signatures in support of a cause and to lobby legislative bodies for or against legislation,” (Copley First Amendment Center) (2). A more simple definition of the right to petition, is “the right to present requests to the government without punishment or reprisal. This right is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution