Exhibit 112
Right to petition in the United States
And Also In Greenville, SC
The right to petition is protected by the First Amendment in the Bill of
Rights.
The right to petition in the United States is guaranteed by the First
Amendment to the Constitution, and specifically prohibits Congress
from abridging "the right of the people ...to petition the Government for
a redress of grievances." Although often overlooked in favor of other
more famous freedoms find sometimes taken for granted, [I} many other
civil liberties are enforceable against the government only by exercising
this basic right, making it a fundamental right in both representative
democracies (to protect public participation) and constitutional
republics, like the United States.
Historic Roots
The American right of petition is derived from British precedent. In
Blackstone's Commentaries, first published in 1765, Americans in the
Thirteen Colonies read that "the right of petitioning the king, or either
house of parliament, for the redress of grievances" was a "right
appertaining to every individual."
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence cited King George's perceived
failure to redress the grievances listed in colonial petitions, such as the
Olive Branch Petition of 1775, as a justification to declare independence:
In every stage of these Oppressions, We have Petitioned for Redress in
the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only
by repeated injury _ A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every
act that may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Exhibit 112
Historically, the right can be traced back' to English documents such as
Magna Carta, which, by its acceptance by the monarchy, implicitly
affirmed the right, and the later Bill of Rights 1689,which explicitly
declared the" right of the subjects to petition the king" .
First use
The first significant exercise and defense of the right to petition within
the U.S. was to advocate the end of slavery by petitioning Congress in
the mid 1830s,including 130,000such requests in 1837and 1838. In 1836,
the House of Representatives adopted a gag rule that would table all
such anti-slavery petitions. John Quincy Adams and other
representatives eventually achieved the repeal of this rule in 1844on the
basis that it was contrary to the right to petition the government.
Scope
While the prohibition of abridgement of the right to petition originally
referred only to the federal legislature (the Congress) and courts, the
incorporation doctrine later expanded the protection of the right to its
current scope, over all state and federal courts and legislatures and the
executive branches of the staterS]and federal governments. The right to
petition includes under its umbrella the right to sue the government, and
the right of individuals, groups, and possibly corporations to lobby the
government.
References
1. Porter, Lori. "Petition - SLAPPs". First Amendment Center.
http://www .firstamendmentcenter.org/ petition/ topic.aspx?topic
=slapp.
2. Newton, Adam; Ronald K.L. Collins. "Petition - Overview". First
Amendment Center.
http:/ lwww.firstamendmentcenter.org/petition/
overview.aspx.
Exhibit 112
3. "Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England'. The
Avalon Project at Yale Law School.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/blackstone/bk1ch1.htm.
3. Quote from the Declaration of Independence. Full text available
at "The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription". The U.S.
National Archives and Records Administration.
http://www .archives.gov/ national-archivesexperience/ charters / dec1aration_transcript.html.
4. Quote from BiD of Rights 1689. Full text available at "English Bill
of Rights 1689". The Avalon Project at Yale Law School.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm.
5. Kilman, J. & Costello, G. (Eds). "Analysis and Interpretation of
the Constitution, 2002 ed. - First Amendment - Religion and
Expression" (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov / constitution/pdf2002/019.pdf.
6. "Struggles over Slavery:The "Gag" Rule". The U.S. National
Archives and Records Administration.
http:// www.archives.gov/ exhibits / treasures_ of_congress / text/ pa
ge10_text.html.
7. "The Right to Petition". Illinois First Amendment Center.
http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/petition.php.
8. Newton, Adam. "Petition - Right to sue". First Amendment
Center.
http://www .firstamendmentcenter.org/ petition/ topic.aspx?topic
=sue.
9. Corporate Personhood debate
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Corporate_Personhood_Debate)