Free American Pastor Andrew Brunson

ACLJ petitions aren’t merely names on a page but powerful tools used with governments, the media, and courts to focus attention on injustice and create real-world change. Here's how:

First, we can directly and immediately alert individual Members of Congress and other government officials of the size and scope of the public support for our initiatives. Unlike, say, White House petitions – which at best generate a response from low-level staffers – our most successful petitions have generated direct White House, State Department, and congressional responses at the highest level.

For example, our petition to get the White House and State Department to directly engage on behalf of a previously-unknown American pastor imprisoned in Iran not only helped generate statements and calls for the pastor’s release from the highest levels of the White House and State Department, it also helped generate multiple congressional calls for his release, including letters signed by 49 Senators and Representatives.

Second, we alert members of the media and can help drive national news stories as petition signatures grow.

For example, when our petition to stop funding and arming Egypt’s radical Muslim Brotherhood-led government gained more than 150,000 signatures, Fox News ran a story highlighting the building pressure, pointing out the number of signers, and quoting Jordan Sekulow. After that story ran, the pressure continued to build and signatures topped 220,000.

Third, petitions not only influence foreign governments, they can provide aid and comfort to persecuted people abroad.

ACLJ has launched massive petition drives and social media campaigns on behalf of two persecuted pastors in Iran – Pastor Youcef, an Iranian pastor condemned to death for apostasy, and Pastor Saeed, the American pastor sentenced to eight years in one of Iran’s most brutal prisons merely because of his faith. Your voice helped free Pastor Youcef, and your support comforts Pastor Saeed as we continue to campaign for his release. In addition, we know from direct communications in Iran, the Iranian government was aware of American concerns and was directly influenced by the level of public awareness.

Finally, you can directly participate in the most critical court battles of our time. Your signature - your voice - can be represented in briefs to the Supreme Court and to federal courts across America.

Collectively, hundreds of thousands of Americans have weighed in on Obamacare, the HHS abortion-pill mandate, and on many other cases dealing with vital issues of constitutional law.