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19世纪30年代,美国反奴隶制协会向联邦国会提交了大量要求废除哥伦比亚特区奴隶制的请愿书。废奴主义者所开展的包括“向国会请愿”在内的一系列活动促进了言论自由在美国的进一步发展。为了应对日益增多的请愿书,联邦国会于1836年通过了禁止议员讨论这类请愿书的“钳口律”①。“钳口律”不仅侵犯了美国宪法第一条第六款所规定的国会议员的言论自由权,更重要的是侵犯了宪法第一修正案所保护的废奴主义者的言论自由权和请愿权。国会议员在有关“钳口律”的辩论中进一步认识到言论自由权和请愿权的重要性。
In the 1830s, the U.S. Anti-Slavery Association submitted a large number of petitions to the Federal Parliament calling for the abolition of the District of Columbia’s slavery. The series of activities carried out by the abolitionists, including the “Petitions for the Congress,” have promoted the further development of freedom of expression in the United States. In response to the growing number of petitions, the Federal Parliament passed the “Law of Rings” in 1836 in which members of Parliament were prohibited from discussing such petitions. “The Law of Crimes” not only violated the freedom of speech of the members of the Diet as stipulated in Article 6, paragraph 1 of the U.S. Constitution but, more importantly, violated the right of freedom of speech of the abolitionists protected by the First Amendment And the right to petition. Members of the Diet further recognized the importance of the right to freedom of expression and the right to petition in the debate on the “law of the mouth.”