Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Our Town

"It is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal..." - English Bill of Rights, 1789

Even before our own Constitution gave the citizens of the newly formed United States the right to petition, the English gave their own people the right to have their grievances heard by their government. Coincidentally, the English Bill of Rights also required a Revolution (known as the Glorious Revolution) in order to be enacted. The Glorious Revolution forced King James II to flee the country in 1688 and installed King William and Queen Mary on the English Throne in 1689, but only after they accepted the Bill of Rights.

The airtight reasons for our own Revolution were written down in great detail in our Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson:

"In every state 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 which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

Lawyers are, of course, quick to point out that the Declaration is not, in fact, a legal document. It does not constitute a part of our legal system. When they make that point, however, they are missing the greater picture. When and if one questions the values set forth in the Declaration, one is, in fact, saying that our own Revolution was illegitimate. Everything that resulted from that Revolution would be likewise. In questioning the Declaration, they question our very rights as Americans as guaranteed in the Constitution, for if the Revolution (and thus the Nation) was not set on morally firm ground, neither would the rights afforded by the fundamental law of that Nation.

We have no choice but to accept the fact that our Rights are Inalienable and come to us from our Creator. Rejecting that premise is a rejection of the rights themselves, for the Declaration of Independence is the moral and ethical foundation of the United States.

That having been said, one of our most important rights, the bulwark of our ability to challenge those in power, comes from our First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law … abridging … the right of the people … to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The Fourteenth Amendment further extends this protection (and, indeed, protection of all our civil rights) to apply to acts of the Individual States, as well:

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States..."

The First Amendment Center explains the Right to Petition as follows:

"The petition clause concludes the First Amendment’s ringing enumeration of expressive rights and, in many ways, supports them all. Petition is the right to ask government at any level to right a wrong or correct a problem... The right to petition allows citizens to focus government attention on unresolved ills; provide information to elected leaders about unpopular policies; expose misconduct, waste, corruption, and incompetence; and vent popular frustrations without endangering the public order."

It is fairly clear that the Right to Petition is of vital importance to us as citizens. It is equally clear that the Town Government in Rochester considers it to be a nuisance, something to be treated with disdain and discarded at their earliest convenience.

Fortunately for us, we do not have to resort to Revolution to eject those who reject, ignore or simply do not understand our Rights and the importance we attach to them. This November, we must be the instruments of reform. Throughout the next eight months, we must be the Winds of Change. Every one of our neighbors must be made to understand that this coming election is not about politics and philosophies. It is about the rights of the People of the Town of Rochester and the thirst for power of those who would abolish them.

As William J. Clinton told the nation 16 years ago, "It's time for change."