The following excerpt is from Rosenthal v. Arabian, 928 F.2d 1137 (9th Cir. 1991):
Rosenthal has failed to provide any evidence to support a finding of either of the required elements of a section 1983 claim: that the appellee attorneys acted under color of state law and that he was deprived of his civil rights. There was no evidence of any improper ex parte communication between the justices and appellee attorneys. "[M]erely resorting to the courts and being on the winning side of the lawsuit does not make a party a co-conspirator or a joint actor with the judge." Dennis v. Sparks, 449 U.S. 24, 28 (1980). Summary judgment on the section 1983 claim was therefore proper.
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