Opinion ID: 718699
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Degree of First Amendment Protection Afforded to the

Text: Expression 10 We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Cannon v. City and County of Denver, 998 F.2d 867, 870 (10th Cir.1993). We begin our analysis by noting that the speech in question is entitled to First Amendment protection. It is well established that religious worship and discussion are forms of speech and association protected by the First Amendment. Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263, 269, 102 S.Ct. 269, 274, 70 L.Ed.2d 440 (1981); Heffron v. International Soc. for Krishna Consciousness, 452 U.S. 640, 647, 101 S.Ct. 2559, 2563-64, 69 L.Ed.2d 298 (1981). The City argues that the proselytizing religious speech in the film Jesus enjoys a lesser degree of First Amendment protection than does religious speech that is not intended to recruit new believers. The Supreme Court, however, has rejected the notion that speech about religion, religious speech designed to win converts, and religious worship by persons already converted should be treated differently under the First Amendment. Widmar, 454 U.S. at 269 n. 6, 102 S.Ct. at 274 n. 6; see also Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, 508 U.S. 384, 394-96, 113 S.Ct. 2141, 2148, 124 L.Ed.2d 352 (1993) (describing the fear that proselytizing by a radical church might cause unrest as difficult to defend as a reason to deny the presentation of a religious point of view about a subject the District otherwise makes open to discussion on District property). The City's policy, then, restricts speech that is entitled full protection under the First Amendment.