Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom… to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
While this right is often not thought about, throughout history, most people did not have the right to ask their government to fix a wrong. What would this country would be like if we didn’t have the right to ask Congress, the states or courts to fix a wrong?
Notice, this clause doesn’t say you can petition the government to get what you want. If we have a grievance, a complaint about our rights being abridged, we have the right to ask (petition) the government to have the wrong corrected. This can be done through the courts, (as in a civil suit), or by asking one of your representatives to come to assist you or even to ask for a change in the law.
This right is another example of how it is the people who are sovereign in this country, how we have the power. Sadly, in this day and age it seems this right is seen more to get the government to force others to do what we want than to deal with true grievances. Perhaps if we spent more time studying the Constitution, we would see the power in our right to petition and use it for the good of the nation rather than our own benefit.