Amendment1Petition

Amendment 1: Freedom to Petition Government **__Amendment:__** "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peacefully to assemble, **//and to petition the government for a redress of grievances//**." -U.S. Constitution __**Analysis:**__ The purpose of this amendment is to give people the right to petition the government. Let's say there is a law that you completely disagree with. Thanks to this amendment, you have the right to do something about it. Start a petition and get the word out. Eventually, you could get the law changed.

   __**Button vs. NAACP**__ The Bill of Rights states that all U.S. citizens have the right to petition the government. Such was the case in 1961, where a man named Button sued the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) for petitioning a Virginia statue that violated the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment "...forbids the states to abridge the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizens, to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law..." -U.S. Constitution, 14th amendment, Section 1. It states that no one can take away anyone else's civil rights. So the NAACP was sued for petitioning the Virginia statue.

**__Real World Connection:__** Because of this amendment we have the right to change laws. If I dislike something, I can start a petition and get the law changed. This amendment gives us the right to speak our minds. Recently in Round Rock, Texas a group of parents were petitioning against a book in the libraries of the Round Rock School District. Without this amendment, they would not have been able to do so. That is one of many examples of petitioning in the U.S. ~The Oyez Project, NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415 (1963), available at: < http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1961/1961_5/ > ~Columbia University Press, comp. "Fourteenth Amendment." __Bartleby.com__. 2008. 5 Dec. 2008 . ~"Text of the Constitution of the United States." __Encyclopedia__ __America__. 2006. 4 Dec. 2008 .
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