No.

22-35647

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JAMES K. SHELTON, BEN SHELTON III AND SAMI SAAD

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.

LIQUOR AND CANNABIS BOARD

OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON ET AL.,

Defendants-Appellees.

AMENDED SUPPLEMENTAL REPLY BRIEF SHOWING

BOGUS DENIALS OF SOCIAL EQUITY APPLICATIONS
FOR FRIENDS OF CHRISTOPHER KING, J.D.

On Appeal from the United States District Court

Western District of Washington
No. C22-5135 BHS

______________________________
James Kevin Shelton et al.
22832 26th Ave S.
Des Moines WA 98198

APPELLANTS PRO SE

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NOW COME PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS to note that the charade continues
unabated with Kevin Shelton, Ben Shelton and Putative Plaintiff Libby Haines-
Marchel all receiving DENIAL letters that are not true at bottom because the
Sheltons most assuredly met the minimum requirements:

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 And Ms. Haines was told that her “Rubric score was not high enough to
proceed” so now this Black Woman who was the ONLY Black entity to make it
through the i502 “scam lottery” (according to NAACP Economic Chair noted
below) was again shut down even though the law that stole her license in the
first place… has been REVERSED. 1

1Ex post facto laws, anyone? Just absolutely flat out contemptible behavior and results from the
WSLCB and the public is entitled to see *ALL* of Ponder Diversity Group’s determinations *AND* the
WSLCB determinations as well. We are told that Mr. King is filing just such a lawsuit and we support
him in that endeavor as should this Honorable Court as well. Courts are here to effectuate Justice not
perpetuation racism, cronyism or any other types of unlawful discrimination.

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 None of them were ever made aware of any deficiencies in their
applications; see for example the following correspondence from Ponder
Diversity Group:

From: No-Reply <no-reply@pdg-law.com>

To: jameskshelton@yahoo.com <jameskshelton@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 11:24:04 PM PDT
Subject: WSLCB Social Equity Application Notification

Thank you for completing your application!

Congratulations on submitting your Social Equity in Cannabis Application to

the social equity contractor for legal review!

Please allow up to three (3) months for your application to be fully processed
and scored. If additional information is required, you will receive an
electronic notification requesting it to be submitted withing 14 days. Please
be advised that if you fail to submit the information prior to the deadline date,
your application will be scored as-is. Information received by the Social
Equity Contractor after the deadline cannot be considered.

We thank you, in advance for your understanding and patience, as we

commence our review of all your responses and supporting documentation.

***********

From: No-Reply <no-reply@pdg-law.com>

To: jameskshelton@yahoo.com <jameskshelton@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, June 2, 2023 at 11:19:29 AM PDT
Subject: WSLCB Social Equity Application Notification

Congratulations on completing your Social Equity in Cannabis Application!

All of the questions in your application have been answered, documentation

has been submitted to us, and we have completed our legal review and scoring
of your application. Please be advised that we do not make any decisions
regarding the issuance of cannabis retail licenses.
The final step in the application process will be facilitated by WSLCB upon its
receipt of your application, supporting documents and electronic score. Social
equity applicants will be notified of the final decision by the WSLCB as to
whether they will be invited to proceed forward with the licensing process.

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Thanks again for your interest in participating in the WSLCB Social Equity in
Cannabis Program. We wish you the very best as you continue your journey!

***********
There’s more: Other People of Color who are not the selected Raisins in
the Sun…. or porridge…. Also note how the WSLCB and the media all ignore
them. Read the recent post from yet another Disfavored POC who names
KIRO 7, News FOX, 13 Seattle in addition to the Seattle Times that we have
repeatedly mentioned – where LCB Board Member David Postman was a
Politics writer there for years. No one is fooled here including this Court but
what are you going to do with it we wonder.

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 Meanwhile Libby Haines – who has a noted interest in this litigation on
Remand to add herself as a named Plaintiff – received the same sort of denial
letter even though both she and the Sheltons one hundred per cent met the
“Minimum Qualifications.”
They are being denied by the WSLB – the entity that retains full
jurisdiction over the actual decisions – because of their unwavering affiliation
with one former AAG and activist Christopher King, J.D. as noted throughout
this litigation.
Notably the WSLCB continues its standard protocol of refusing to
provide any relevant information on this so-called Social Equity program as
witnessed by the board meeting just last week as they refuse to acknowledge
that the interview records for new Board Director William N. Lukela and the
RFP (Request for Proposal, Request for Qualifications, Request for
Information, etc.) on Diversity are indeed PUBLIC RECORD pursuant to RCW
§39.26.030:

RCW 39.26.030
State procurement records—Disclosure.
(1) Records related to state procurements are public records subject to
disclosure to the extent provided in chapter 42.56 RCW except as provided in
subsection (2) of this section.
(2) Bid submissions and bid evaluations are exempt from disclosure
until the agency announces the apparent successful bidder.

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Watch right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5jq1lY4frc&t=1809s
LCB Board Meeting September 13, 2023

CONCLUSION

This entire process has been, and continues to be, a complete sham just
like the first “Lottery” as succinctly stated by NAACP Economic Chair Darrell
Powell:
https://youtu.be/3nXaPSdoyEo?si=7Hi6LtW3qoD6cuc8&t=231

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 It is patently obvious that racism and cronyism in violation of, inter
alia, the First Amendment Inalienable Rights to Petition the Government and
of Association, continues unabated. Should this Court decline to issue
Remand it too will be just another effective cog in the hegemonic machinery
that intentionally cripples Blacks in this Country, the Land of the Free. The
choice is yours. We will be waiting right here to see which way you go.

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I served a true and accurate copy of this Amended Supplemental Authority to:

Jessica Leiser, WSBA# 49349

Ghazal Sharifi, WSBA# 47750

Assistant City Attorney

Jessica.Leiser@seattle.gov
Ghazal.Sharifi@seattle.gov

Leah E. Harris, WSBA# 40815

Jonathan E. Pitel, WSBA# 47516
Assistant Attorney General
1125 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA 988504-0110
Leah.harris@atg.wa.gov
Jonathan.pitel@atg.wa.gov

On this 19th Day of September, 2023

_________________________________
James Kevin Shelton