Opinion ID: 222485
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Plaintiffs were participating in constitutionally protected activity

Text: The First Amendment generally protects controversial speech. The fact that the messages conveyed by those communications may be offensive to their recipients does not deprive them of constitutional protection. Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S. 703, 714-15, 120 S.Ct. 2480, 147 L.Ed.2d 597 (2000); see also Terminiello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 1, 4, 69 S.Ct. 894, 93 L.Ed. 1131 (1949) (Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects. . . . That is why freedom of speech, though not absolute, . . . is nevertheless protected against censorship or punishment.). In this case, Defendants do not challenge Plaintiffs' participation in constitutionally protected activity, and we will assume, for purposes of this appeal, that this element is satisfied and accordingly focus on the remaining two elements. See Fritz, 592 F.3d at 723 (conduct was protected by the First Amendment, for purposes of a motion for judgment on the pleadings, where the defendants did not argue otherwise).