Knowles
Johnson v. Knowles
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Trott, J.
OVERVIEW
Paul Johnson and Kevin Wadsworth, a gay couple, and a putative class of El Dorado County, California Republicans who elected Johnson and Wadsworth to the County’s Republican party central committee (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) appeal the district court’s order dismissing their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for failure to state a claim. 1 They alleged in their Complaint that David Knowles — a member of the California Assembly and ex officio member of the El Dorado County Republican Party Central Committee (the “Committee”) — and 16 other Committee members (collectively, the “Defendants”) conspired to oust Johnson and Wadsworth from their elected posts on the Committee because of their sexual orientation. This conduct, the Plaintiffs contend, violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and participation in the political process and their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection.
*1116 The district court ruled that the Committee’s conduct was not action “under color of state law” and dismissed their claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.