How to Start a Petition Drive

1
Gather your strongest supporters. Petition drives need many people to canvas for
signatures. The more participation, the greater your chance is of success. Run an ad
in the local newspaper and on the radio informing everyone of a start-up meeting.

2
Word your petition carefully to reflect exactly what you want to accomplish. If you
are planning to challenge a community law or regulation, be sure you state a concise
goal. Include enough space for signers to include their names, addresses and phone
numbers. Verification checking may be necessary later.
3
Decide on an opening statement for volunteers to use when approaching potential
signers. Some people need a general script to help them get started.
4
Hit the pavement. Volunteers feel more comfortable in pairs when going door to
door. Assign partners and specific neighborhoods for each team to canvas.
Remember to send petition drive teams to the local shopping mall, grocery stores
and public gatherings.

5
Plan to meet at a designated time and place to discuss everyone's success. Hold a
couple of progress meetings along the way to check on volunteers and see if they
need additional help with their assigned area.

Right to Petition Government

(The)
By Elisia Hahnenberg
Graduate Student, Grand Valley State University
Definition
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 (History Central,
1).
Looking at the specific definition of the word petition, as it relates to the freedom of
petition and the First Amendment, the word can be used to describe any nonviolent,
legal means of encouraging or disapproving government action, whether directed to
the judicial, executive or legislative branch. Lobbying, letter-writing, e-mail
campaigns, testifying before tribunals, filing lawsuits, supporting referenda,
collecting signatures for ballot initiatives, peaceful protests and picketing: all public
articulation of issues, complaints and interests designed to spur government action
qualifies under the petition clause (Copley First Amendment Center) (1).

Historic Roots
The actual concept of petitioning the government is said to reach at least as far back
as the Magna Carta, one of the first documented formal legal systems that was
composed by Kingdom of England in 1215. In the Magna Carta (as translated into
modern English), it states, If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our
servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of
the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said
twenty-five barons, they shall come to us - or in our absence from the kingdom to
the chief justiceto declare it and claim immediate redress. In other words,
although the power was only granted to the 25 barons elected by the King, these
barons still had the authority to petition the Kingdom if they felt injustices were
being imposed (British Library, 1). Later, this right to petition was further confirmed
in the English Declaration of Rights, written in 1689, which states that subjects of the
King are entitled to petition the King without fear of prosecution (Copley First
Amendment Center) (1).

Drawing from these historical documents, the framers of the United States
Constitution added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution in 1789, which contained the
first ten Amendments of the Constitution. James Madison composed the First
Amendment, which contains the clause regarding the right to petition government
that we refer to today.

Importance
The right to petition our Government, though often overlooked in comparison with
the other freedoms listed in the First Amendment, is nonetheless a very significant
right that we have in this country. This right grants people not only the freedom to
stand up and speak out against injustices they feel are occurring, but also grants the
power to help change those injustices.
The right to petition government is a freedom that has been firmly upheld by the
Supreme Court of the United States on countless occasions, proving that it is
considered an inalienable right by the U.S. Government. During the civil rights
movement, for example, the Supreme Court upheld the rights of several groups of
individuals protesting segregation at public institutions such as libraries and schools,
and ruled that these citizens had every right to express their rights under the
petition clause.
Further, the act of petitioning by citizens has also resulted in the change of certain
practices. This can be seen quite commonly in situations involving environmental
practices, and has resulted in victories for many environmental activists and
organizations. For example, Oceana, an international organization dedicated to the
protection and preservation of the worlds oceans, recently joined with over 100,000
citizens to sign a petition protesting the practice of long hook fishing in many areas
of the Atlantic. The practice had resulted in the accidental catching and often death
of many non-targeted populations, including certain endangered species of sea
mammals, turtles and birds. As a result of the petition, a Federal judge banned the
long-line fishing in many areas in order to protect these endangered as well as other
ocean species (Oceana Organization).
Because several voices are always louder than one, the right to petition is a valuable
tool to citizens in that they can join together to speak out for issues they feel are
important to them.

Ties to the Nonprofit/Philanthropic Sector

As mentioned above, several voices are always louder than one. With this in mind,
the way for citizens to petition the government in an effective way is to join together
for a common cause, gaining as many people and as much support as possible.
The nonprofit community plays an active role in petitioning government by providing
an organized medium to join citizens together in support of causes or in petition of
practices that violate their cause. If one person alone were to attempt to find
hundreds of others to join him/her in a petition against a certain government
practice, for example, it would likely take that person a long time to find the number

of people needed to really make an impact in their petition. However, if that

individual joined with a nonprofit organization with members who also supported the
same cause, together they could make a significant difference should they choose to
petition a government practice.
In addition, citizens can provide financial support to these organizations as a way of
exercising their support, knowing that their donations help to fund the protection,
and if necessary, petition in support or defense of their cause. For example, the
Environmental Defense Organization is an organization whose purpose is to protect
human health, restore ecosystems and curb global warming. Citizens who feel
strongly about these issues can get involved with this nonprofit organization through
the donation of time and/or money, and as a large group, this organization can have
a heavy impact when it does exercise its petitioning rights. (Environmental Defense
Organization)

Key Related Ideas

Bill of Rights: This document was composed by United States Forefathers. It
contains the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. The First
Amendment states the right to petition as one of its five listed freedoms in which all
citizens are entitled. Petition Clause is the formal name for the right to petition as
referred to in the First Amendment. Freedom of Petition is a more common term
used to describe the right to petition.
Government Response: It is important to note that in response to a petition from
a citizen or citizens, the government is not required to actually respond or address
the issue. Under the Petition Clause, the Government is only required to provide a
way for
citizens to petition, and a method in which they will receive the petition (Copley First
Amendment Center) (1).
SLAAP Suits stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These
lawsuits are sometimes filed against citizens for speaking about against certain
issues in front of public councils such as school boards and city councils. As outlined
in the Petition Clause, lawsuits against the public for exercising their right to petition
is considered unconstitutional, and these lawsuits are regularly overturned in the
United States Court System (ibid.).

Important People Related to This Topic

James Madison (1751-1836): As the writer of the First Amendment,

James Madison is responsible for creating the right to petition. James Madison was
born in Virginia in 1751. In the 1780s he worked with the other creators of the
U.S. Constitution such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton to create the
Constitution. From 1809-1817, Madison served as the fourth president to the
United States.

How to Write A Sample Petition

Type in a sample headline at the top of your petition -- it can be an actual petition
you plan to right or just an example for you to follow for future petitions. A bold, eyecatching, relevant title is key to a successful petition. This is especially true if you're
going to post the petition online -- choose keywords that people interested in that
issue will probably search for online.

2
Type in a paragraph describing your plea. Start off by identifying the
issue, then discuss why the issue is important, then explain what the
organization is or isn't doing that's causing the issue to persist. Place
fill in blanks where information will change with each new petition. So
for instance, "The ABC Organization is filing this petition, this _____ day
of ____ in _____ regarding the issue of _____. The issue of ____ is
important because ____________. It directly affects you by __________.
Because of the actions of the __(name of company or person you're
petitioning against)________ this issue continues to plague our
community." You can also draw up a petition to get signatures for a
candidate by rewording the last part to promote the person in a
positive way.

3
Enter another paragraph (preferably one to two lines long) describing the action you
want the organization or individual to talk to resolve the issue. For instance, allow
the candidate on the ballot or stop a company from violating a noise ordinance.
Again, provide blanks where you can simply fill in the text with information specific
to the case. "ABC Organization demands that _______(name of company or person
you're petitioning against)_______ stop this activity immediately in the interest of
the _______ community."
4
Ask the petition viewer to sign the petition in support of the cause at the bottom of
the petition template. Remember to leave a fill in the blank for the cause name or
description Repeat how the situation affects him and his community to encourage
signing.

Model Examples of the Fifth Estate (The Press)

A free press is essential for a democracy. The Press is the body

which informs and empowers the Citizenry. In order to exercise
civic responsibilities, we need accurate (fact checked) news. W
There is a distinction in on air and print Journalism between that
which is editorial and that which is newsprint.
Editorial is opinion of the journalist or the publication. News is
information that is fact checked and printed according to the
formula who, what, when, where, why and how. Journalists may
have a slant to their story (implied conclusion) but may not state
personal opinion. Using eyewitness accounts or adding
statements from relevant sources is one way to slant the story.
The reader is left with all pertinent facts and additional
information that may influence their opinion or belief in the
information presented. It is important to obtain news from more
than one credible source because of this.
Below are some sources of fact checked Press:
The Starledger-Newark, New Jersey
www.starledger.com
Jersey City Independent-www.jerseycityindependent.com
NJN News-(PBS channel 12) 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
www.njn.net//news
Jim Lehrer News Hour-(PBS) weeknights 7 p.m. channel 13
www.thirteen.org
National Public Radio-WNYC 93.9 fm and 820 am
www.wnyc.org (wync owns New Jersey Public Radio)
The Huffington Post-www.thehuffingtonpost.com
Politico-politico.com