About Marijuana Use Among People Who Have Filed a Charge of Discrimination

3. 131 M St, N. E., Fifth Floor Washington, D. C. 20507 Free: (833) 827-2920 TTY: (202) 663-6056 FAX: (833) 827-7545 Website: www.eeoc.gov U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Office of Legal Counsel     January 26, 2022 VIA: waacl13@gmail.com Michael Ayele (aka) W ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTIES P.O. Box 20438 Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA 10013 Re: FOIA No.: 820-2022-0031171 Communications with regards to various charges with the EEOC Dear Mr. Ayele (aka) W: Your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, received on 12/27/2021, is processed. The paragraph(s) checked below apply. [X] Your request is: [X] In part, denied pursuant to the subsections of the FOIA indicated at the end of this letter. See below for a more detailed explanation on the use of these exemptions. [X] In part, procedurally denied as no records fitting the description of the records you seek disclosed exist or could be located after a thorough search. See the comments below for further explanation. [X] You may contact the Acting EEOC FOIA Public Liaison Michael L. Heise for further assistance or to discuss any aspect of your request. In addition, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740- 6001, email at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at (202) 741-5770; toll free 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at (202) 741-5769. The contact information for the FOIA Public Liaison is as follows: Michael L. Heise, EEOC FOIA Public Liaison, Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Division, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 M. Street, N.E., Fifth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20507, email to FOIA@eeoc.gov, telephone at (202) 921-2542; or fax at (833) 827-7545. [X] If you are not satisfied with the response to this request, you may administratively appeal in writing. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted in 90 days from receipt of this letter to the Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Division, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 M Street, NE, 5NW02E, Washington, D.C. 20507, email to FOIA@eeoc.gov; online at https://eeoc.arkcase.com/foia/portal/login, or fax at (833) 827-7545. Your appeal will be governed by 29 C.F.R. § 1610.11.   1 Formerly numbered 820-2022-002784. Withdrawn by requester on December 27, 2021.

4. 820-2022-003117  Sincerely, Michael L. Heise Assistant Legal Counsel (Acting) foia@eeoc.gov Applicable Sections of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b): Exemption(s) Used: [X] (3)(A)(i) [X] Section 706(b) of Title VII [X] Section 709(e) of Title VII [X] Section 107 of the ADA [X] Section 207 of the GINA Exemption 3 to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3)(A)(i) (2016), as amended by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-185, 130 Stat. 538, states that disclosure is not required for a matter specifically exempted from disclosure by statute if that statute: (A)(i) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue[.] Sections 706(b) and 709(e) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5(b), 2000e- 8(e)(2006), are part of such a statute. Section 706(b) provides that: Charges shall not be made public by the Commission . . . . Nothing said or done during and as a part of [the Commission's informal endeavors at resolving charges of discrimination] may be made public . . . . Section 709(e) of Title VII provides: It shall be unlawful for any officer of the Commission to make public in any manner whatever any information obtained by the Commission pursuant to its authority under this section [to investigate charges of discrimination and to require employers to maintain and submit records] prior to the institution of any proceeding under this title involving such information. Section 107 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and § 207 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) adopt the procedures of Sections 706 and 709 of Title VII. See EEOC v. Associated Dry Goods Co., 449 U.S. 590 (1981); Frito-Lay v. EEOC, 964 F. Supp. 236, 239-43 (W.D. Ky. 1997); American Centennial Insurance Co. v. EEOC, 722 F. Supp. 180 (D.N.J. 1989); and EEOC v. City of Milwaukee, 54 F. Supp. 2d 885, 893 (E.D. Wis. 1999). INFORMATION WITHHELD PURSUANT TO THE THIRD EXEMPTION TO THE FOIA: EEOC can neither confirm nor deny the existence, or non-existence, of any Title VII, ADA, and/or GINA, charges filed by an individual against an entity to which you are not, or do not represent, a party to the charge. Exemption (b)(7)(C) to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(C), as amended by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-185, 130 Stat. 538, authorizes the Commission to withhold: [X] (7)(C) 2 | P a g e    

5. 820-2022-003117  records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information . . . (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy . . . . The seventh exemption applies to civil and criminal investigations conducted by regulatory agencies. Abraham & Rose, P.L.C. v. United States, 138 F.3d 1075, 1083 (6th Cir. 1998). Release of statements and identities of witnesses and subjects of an investigation creates the potential for witness intimidation that could deter their cooperation. National Labor Relations Board v. Robbins Tire and Rubber Co., 437 U.S. 214, 239 (1978); Manna v. United States Dep’t. of Justice, 51 F.3d 1158,1164 (3d Cir. 1995). Disclosure of identities of employee-witnesses could cause "problems at their jobs and with their livelihoods." L&C Marine Transport, Ltd. v. United States, 740 F.2d 919, 923 (11th Cir. 1984). The Supreme Court has explained that only "[o]fficial information that sheds light on an agency's performance of its statutory duties" merits disclosure under FOIA, and noted that "disclosure of information about private citizens that is accumulated in various governmental files" would "reveal little or nothing about an agency's own conduct." United States Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 773 (1989). For the purposes of determining what constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under exemption (b)(7)(C), the term “personal privacy” only encompasses individuals, and does not extend to the privacy interests of corporations. FCC v. AT&T Inc., 131 S.Ct. 1177, 1178 (2011). INFORMATION WITHHELD PURSUANT TO THE SEVENTH EXEMPTION TO THE FOIA: EEOC cannot grant access to ADEA or EPA charges, filed by an individual against an entity, in order to prevent an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy by a third party. COMMENTS This office’s response to your request is as follows: (1) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the systemic racism and sexism present within the cannabis/marijuana industry in places where the drug has been legalized for recreational and medicinal purposes” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (2) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) previous finding that Black/African American people were 3.6 times more likely to be arrested and charged for drug related offenses than Caucasians even though the two groups use marijuana at roughly the same rate” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (3) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the overwhelming majority of people who own and operate marijuana dispensaries being Caucasian males” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (4) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the statements made by Caroline Phillips affirming that Black and Brown people face barriers to access when it comes to money and licensing” in their efforts to meaningfully participate in the booming cannabis/marijuana industry” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (5) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the advice of Caroline Phillips for Black/Brown people with limited financial resources to develop a brand on social media and then license the name to a cultivation company that provides products placement in dispensaries, if they wish to meaningfully participate in the booming cannabis/marijuana industry” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. 3 | P a g e    

6. 820-2022-003117  (6) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the Guardian reporting that a marijuana dispensary or cultivation business could cost anywhere from $750,000 (seven hundred and fifty thousand) to $1 million U.S. dollars” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (7) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of New Jersey decision to set the license application fee to $20,000 with proof of real estate acquisition when marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes in 2010” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (8) Your request for ““[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of the State of New Jersey to lower the adult use application fee to $100 (one hundred dollars) for micro-businesses and $200 (two-hundred dollars) for standard businesses, with the complete application fee coming between $500 (five hundred dollars) and $2,000 (two- thousand dollars)” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (9) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of Illinois becoming the first to include social equity in its legislation at the time marijuana was legalized for recreational purposes on January 1, 2020,” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (10) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the $62 million dollars in funds dedicated to social equity programs and applicants taking over a year to distribute in the State of Illinois” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (11) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of the State of Illinois to set aside a $32 million revolving loan fund for social equity applicants financed by cannabis businesses established prior to adult use legalization” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (12) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of Illinois not requiring people wishing to join the cannabis/marijuana industry to own real estate” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (13) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of Illinois decreasing the application fee from $5,000 to $2,500 for social equity applicants looking to join the cannabis/marijuana industry” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (14) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of the State of Virginia to legalize marijuana in July 2021” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (15) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of Virginia setting the social equity criteria to include anyone who (a) graduated from an HBCU in Virginia; (b) has had a marijuana conviction; and (c) has lived in an area determined to be disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes,” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (16) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about California Proposition 215 having legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1995” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. 4 | P a g e    

7. 820-2022-003117  (17) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the City of Los Angeles having had about 2,000 pot shops illegally selling cannabis in 2010” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (18) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the State of California having seized more than 1.2 million illegal cannabis plants and more than 180,000 lbs. (one hundred and eighty thousand pounds) of processed pot in 2021” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (19) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of Californians to vote in favor of Proposition 64 in November 2016, thereby legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes,” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (20) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about 80-90% of the California cannabis/marijuana market remaining underground despite the voters choosing to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes in November 2016” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (21) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the responsibility local governments in the State of California must take for failing to allow the sale of cannabis in their municipalities after the vote of November 2016” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (22) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the responsibility local governments in the State of California must take for implicitly and explicitly encouraging people to purchase marijuana from the black-market after the vote of November 2016” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (23) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the Guardian reporting that the judicial branch of the U.S government bullied “local governments trying to regulate weed” by making them “complicit in violating federal law”” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (24) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the exorbitant and outrageous tax rates legal marijuana/cannabis businesses must pay to the government” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (25) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about legal marijuana businesses paying an effective tax rate of 70% to the U.S. government” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (26) Your request for “documents outlining the reservations [EEOC] ha[s] expressed to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) for publishing in March 2020 a report entitled: The Growth of the Marijuana Industry Warrants Increased Tax Compliance Efforts and Additional Guidance” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (27) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as, a Caucasian woman who’s considered a role-model for winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019, representing the United States of America (U.S.A.)” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (28) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for making soccer popular in the U.S.A.” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. 5 | P a g e    

8. 820-2022-003117  (29) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a role model for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act” is denied pursuant to the third and seventh exemptions to the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(3)(A)(i) and (b)(7)(C). The confidentiality provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the ADA, and GINA prohibit the EEOC from confirming or denying the existence, or nonexistence, of a charge brought by an individual to a third party of the charge. The third exemption to the FOIA exempts this information from disclosure. The seventh exemption to the FOIA permits the agency to withhold information compiled in investigative files where disclosure of such information could result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. In this instance, we cannot grant access to, or copies of, any ADEA and EPA charges. 29 C.F.R. § 1610.17(g). (30) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for speaking out against pay disparity on the basis of gender” is denied pursuant to the third and seventh exemptions to the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(3)(A)(i) and (b)(7)(C). See #29. (31) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for opposing discrimination on the basis of gender” is denied pursuant to the third and seventh exemptions to the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(3)(A)(i) and (b)(7)(C). See #29. (32) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for the speech she gave at the White House during the Equal Pay Day event” is denied pursuant to the third and seventh exemptions to the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(3)(A)(i) and (b)(7)(C). See #29. (33) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for her loud advocacy in favor of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (34) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who recognized the vital importance of Black/African American women for the success of the Democratic Party in local, state and federal, elections held throughout the U.S.A.” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (35) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who uses cannabidiol (CBD) for medicinal purposes to help with pain and inflammation, stabilize [her] mood and get better sleep” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (36) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Sha’Carri Richardson as a Black woman who’s considered a role model for being the fastest woman in America” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (37) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Sha’Carri Richardson as a Black woman who smoked marijuana following the death of her mother” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (38) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Sha’Carri Richardson as a woman who tested positive for having marijuana in her system following the death of her mother” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. 6 | P a g e    

9. 820-2022-003117  (39) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Sha’Carri Richardson as a woman who was disqualified from running in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games for having smoked marijuana” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (40) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortex noting on her Twitter account that the criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (41) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Gabrielle Union noting on her Twitter account in support of Sha’Carri Richardson that “Weed is great for many a thing but running isn’t one of them, LET HER RUN”” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (42) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Gabrielle Union as a Black woman who’s considered a role model for featuring as an actress in many movies and television series” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (43) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Gabrielle Union as a woman who is considered a role-model for filing a charge of employment discrimination with the EEOC pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act opposing the harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, she experienced as a judge of the television series entitled American’s Got Talent” is denied pursuant to the third and seventh exemptions to the FOIA. 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(3)(A)(i) and (b)(7)(C). See #29. (44) Your request for “formal and informal ties existing between the EEOC and the California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)” is granted. Charges filed with a Fair Employment Practices Agency (FEPA), such as DFEH, that has a work- sharing agreement with the EEOC, and the allegation(s) are covered by a law enforced by the EEOC, the FEPA will dual file the charge with EEOC. If a charge is filed with EEOC, and the charge is covered by state or local law, EEOC dual files the charge with the state or local FEPA. See the following link: https://www.eeoc.gov/fair-employment-practices-agencies-fepas-and-dual-filing. The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, by an employer; such as a state employer, against a job applicant or an employee. The requested information is already available online, via EEOC’s public website. See the following link: https://www.eeoc.gov/employers. (45) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noting that the case of Sha’Carri Richardson merits another look at the rules on cannabis” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (46) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of Sha’Carri Richardson to use her platform to speak out against the verdict that found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of murder by contrasting his case to the shooting of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, who were both unarmed Black youths, approximately 5 (five) months following the statements of Jen Psaki on Cable News Network (CNN)” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (47) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about Tamir Rice as a 12 years-old Black/African American child who was shot dead for having on his person a toy gun” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (48) Your request for ““[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about 7 | P a g e    

10. 820-2022-003117  Trayvon Martin as a 17-years-old Black/African American child who was killed for carrying a bag of Skittles while wearing a hoodie” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (49) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of Sandra Bullock to forbid her Black son from wearing hoodies” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (50) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the not-guilty verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse having initiated much-needed conversations about racial issues throughout the U.S.A., that continue to be unaddressed” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (51) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the not-guilty verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse having highlighted the case of Marc Wilson in the State of Georgia” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (52) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Muldrew to not consider the word “N*****” as a derogatory and hateful term that could incite an emotionally charged physical response when a Caucasian person uses it in the presence of a Black/African American person” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (53) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the consequences of the decision made by Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Muldrew, who set a dangerous precedent when affirming that Black/African American people should expect to hear the word “N*****” in polite company when they are in the presence of Caucasian people” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (54) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) 2020 study finding that homicides in which the shooter is white and the victim is Black were ruled to be justified 11.2% of the time, compared to just 1.2% of the time when the shooter is Black and the victim is white” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (55) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of the government of Malawi to ask Mike Tyson to become the official ambassador for the country’s cannabis crop” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (56) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the decision of Mike Tyson to accept the invitation of the government of Malawi” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. (57) Your request for “[EEOC] communications in the form of e-mails and postal correspondence about the reservations of the Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) in making Mike Tyson a cannabis/marijuana brand ambassador for Malawi” is procedurally denied. No records exist within the EEOC. This response was prepared by Joanne Murray, Government Information Specialist, who may be reached at (202) 921-2541. 8 | P a g e    

11. U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Office of Legal Counsel 131 M St, N. E., Fifth Floor Washington, D. C. 20507 Free: (833) 827-2920 TTY: (202) 663-6056 FAX: (202) 663-7026 Website: www.eeoc.gov 12/28/2021 VIA: waacl13@gmail.com Michael Ayele Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties P.O. Box 20438 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10013 Re: FOIA No.: 820-2022-003117 Dear Mr. Ayele: Your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, received by the Office of Legal Counsel on 12/28/2021, is assigned to the [X] Simple [ ] Complex [ ] Expedited track with the above FOIA number. Your request will be processed by Government Information Specialist Joanne Murray who can be reached at (202) 921-2541. [X]EEOC will make every effort to issue a determination on your request on or before 01/26/2022. FOIA and EEOC regulations provide 20 working days to issue a determination on a request, not including Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. In unusual circumstances, EEOC may extend the 20 working days by 10 additional working days or stop processing your request until you respond to our request for fee or clarifying information. Should EEOC take an extension or stop processing your request, notice will be issued prior to the expiration of the 20 working days. [X] the need to search for and collect the requested records, if any exist, from field offices or other establishments that are separate from this office; You may contact the FOIA Requester Service Center for status updates on your FOIA request or for FOIA information via toll free at (833) 827-2920, to our non-toll free number at (202) 921-2542, by e-mail to FOIA@eeoc.gov, by facsimile to (202) 653-6034, or by mail to our office address in the letterhead above. Additionally, if your request was filed online through the EEOC FOIA Web Portal, you may monitor its status at https://eeoc.arkcase.com/foia/portal/login. You may also contact the EEOC FOIA Public Liaison, Stephanie D. Garner, for assistance. Sincerely, Dister Battle for _____________________________ Stephanie D. Garner Assistant Legal Counsel foia@eeoc.gov Endnotes

12. U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Office of Legal Counsel 131 M St, N. E., Fifth Floor Washington, D. C. 20507 Free: (877)-869-1802 TTY (202) 663-6056 FAX (202) 663-7026 Website: www.eeoc.gov 12/27/2021 Dear Michael Ayele (aka) W, Your request has been delivered to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The request has been assigned tracking # 820-2022-003117, please log into your account and review your submission. The application address is https://eeoc.arkcase.com/foia/portal/ Thank you, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Notice of Confidentiality: The information contained in this transmission may contain privileged and confidential information, including information protected by federal and state privacy laws. It is intended only for the use of the person(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution, or duplication of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact us at foia@eeoc.gov and attachments. and destroy all copies of the original message

13. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 W (AACL) Michael A. Ayele P.O.Box 20438 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia E-mail: waacl13@gmail.com ; waacl1313@gmail.com ; waacl42913@gmail.com Date.: December 28th 2021 Request for Records Hello, This is Michael A. Ayele sending this message though I now go by W. You may call me W. I am writing this letter to file a request for records with your offices.i The bases for this records request are (1) the articles published on the Guardian between September and November 2021 detailing the systemic racism and sexism that persist in the State of California (among other places) following the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes;ii (2) the statements made by Megan Rapinoe about the medicinal benefits of marijuana on her body;iii (3) the statement of support made by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on behalf of Sha’Carri Richardson;iv (4) the suggestions made by the White House press secretary Jen Psaki and the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) indicating that the case of Sha’Carri Richardson deserved “another look” at the rules on cannabis; v(5) the criticism of Sha’Carri Richardson at the verdict following the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse;vi (6) the letter sent by the government of Malawi requesting for the Mike Tyson to become the official ambassador for the country’s cannabis crop.vii I) Request for Records What I am requesting for prompt disclosure are all records within your possession detailing (1) your communications about the systemic racism and sexism present within the cannabis/marijuana industry in places where the drug has been legalized for recreational and medicinal purposes; (2) your communications about the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) previous finding that Black/African American people were 3.6 times more likely to be arrested and charged for drug related offenses than Caucasians even though the two groups use marijuana at roughly the same rate; (3) your communications about the overwhelming majority of people who own and operate marijuana dispensaries being Caucasian males;viii (4) your communications about the statements made by Caroline Phillips affirming that “Black and Brown people face barriers to access when it come s to money and licensing” in their efforts to meaningfully participate in the booming cannabis/marijuana industry; (5) your communications about the advice of Caroline Phillips for Black/Brown people with limited financial resources to “develop a brand on social media and then license the name to a cultivation company that provides products placement in dispensaries,” if they wish to meaningfully participate in the booming cannabis/marijuana industry; (6) your communications about the Guardian reporting that a W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 1

14. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 marijuana dispensary or cultivation business could cost anywhere from $750,000 (seven hundred and fifty thousand) to $1 million U.S dollars; (7) your communications about the State of New Jersey decision to set the license application fee to $20,000 with proof of real estate acquisition when marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes in 2010; (8) your communications about the decision of the State of New Jersey to lower the adult use application fee to $100 (one hundred dollars) for micro-businesses and $200 (two-hundred dollars) for standard businesses, with the complete application fee coming between $500 (five hundred dollars) and $2,000(two- thousand dollars); (9) your communications about the State of Illinois becoming the first to include social equity in its legislation at the time marijuana was legalized for recreational purposes on January 01st 2020;ix (10) your communications about the $62 million dollar in funds dedicated to social equity programs and applicants taking over a year to distribute in the State of Illinois; (11) your communications about the decision of the State of Illinois to set aside a $32 million dollar revolving loan fund for social equity applicants financed by cannabis businesses established prior to adult use legalization; (12) your communications about the State of Illinois not requiring people wishing to join the cannabis/marijuana industry to own real estate; (13) your communications about the State of Illinois decreasing the application fee from $5,000 to $2,500 for social equity applicants looking to join the cannabis/marijuana industry; (14) your communications about the decision of the State of Virginia to legalize marijuana in July 2021; (15) your communications about the State of Virginia setting the social equity criteria to include anyone who (a) graduated from an HBCU in Virginia; (b) has had a marijuana conviction and (c) has lived in an area determined to be disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes; (16) your communications about California Proposition 215 having legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1995; (17) your communications about the City of Los Angeles having had about 2,000 pot shops illegallyselling cannabis in 2010; (18) your communications about the State of California having seized more than 1.2 million illegal cannabis plants and more than 180,000lb (one hundred and eighty thousand pounds) of processed pot in 2021; (19) your communications about the decision of Californians to vote in favor of Proposition 64 in November 2016, thereby legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes; (20) your communications about 80-90% of the California cannabis/marijuana market remaining underground despite the voters choosing to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes in November 2016; (21) your communications about the responsibility local governments in the State of California must take for failing to allow the sale of cannabis in their municipalities after the vote of November 2016; (22) your communications about the responsibility local governments in the State of California must take for implicitly and explicitly encouraging people to purchase marijuana from the black-market after the vote of November 2016; (23) your communications about the Guardian reporting that the judicial branch of the U.S government bullied “local governments trying to regulate weed” by making them “complicit in violating federal law;” (24) your communications about the exorbitant and outrageous tax rates legal marijuana/cannabis businesses must pay to the government; (25) your communications about legal marijuana businesses paying an effective tax rate of 70% to the U.S government; (26) documents outlining the reservations you have expressed to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) for publishing in March 2020 a report entitled: “The Growth of the Marijuana Industry Warrants Increased Tax W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 2

15. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 Compliance Efforts and Additional Guidance;” (27) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a Caucasian woman who’s considered a role-model for winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019 representing the United States of America (U.S.A); (28) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for making soccer popular in the U.S.A; (29) your communication about Megan Rapinoe as a role model for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act; (30) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for speaking out against pay disparity on the basis of gender; (31) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for opposing discrimination on the basis of gender; (32) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for the speech she gave at the White House during the Equal Pay Day event;x (33) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who’s considered a role model for her loud advocacy in favor of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement;xi (34) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who recognized the vital importance of Black/African American women for the success of the Democratic Party in local, state and federal elections held throughout the U.S.A;xii (35) your communications about Megan Rapinoe as a woman who uses cannabidiol (CBD) for medicinal purposes to help “with pain and inflammation, stabilize [her] mood and get better sleep;” (36) your communications about Sha’Carri Richardson as a Black woman who’s considered a role model for being the fastest woman in America; (37) your communications about Sha’Carri Richardson as a Black woman who smoked marijuana following the death of her mother; (38) your communications about Sha’Carri Richardson as a woman who tested positive for having marijuana in her system following the death of her mother; (39) your communications about Sha’Carri Richardson as a woman who was disqualified from running in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games for having smoked marijuana; (40) your communications about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortex noting on her Twitter account that the “criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy;” (41) your communications about Gabrielle Union noting on her Twitter account in support of Sha’Carri Richardson that “Weed is great for many a thing but running isn’t one of them, LET HER RUN;”xiii (42) your communications about Gabrielle Union as a Black woman who’s considered a role model for featuring as an actress in many movies and Television series; (43) your communications about Gabrielle Union as a woman who is considered a role-model for filing a charge of employment discrimination with the EEOC pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act opposing the harassment, discrimination and retaliation she experienced as a judge of the Television (T.V) series entitled: American’s Got Talent;xiv (44) formal and informal ties existing between your offices, the EEOC and the California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH); (45) your communications about White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noting that the case of Sha’Carri Richardson merits “another look” at the rules on cannabis; (46) your communications about the decision of Sha’Carri Richardson to use her platform to speak out against the verdict that found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of murder by contrasting his case to the shooting of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin (who were both unarmed Black youths) approximately 5 (five) months following the statements of Jen W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 3

16. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 Psaki on Cable News Network (CNN); ( 47) your communications about Tamir Rice as a 12 years-old Black/African American child who was shot dead for having in his person a toy gun; (48) your communications about Trayvon Martin as a 17-years-old Black/African American child who was killed for carrying a bag of Skittles while wearing a hoodie; (49) your communications about the decision of Sandra Bullock to forbid her Black son from wearing hoodies;xv (50) your communications about the not-guilty verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse having initiated much-needed conversations about racial issues throughout the U.S.A that continue to be unaddressed; (51) your communications about the not-guilty verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse having highlighted the case of Marc Wilson in the State of Georgia; (52) your communications about the decision of Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Muldrew to not consider the word “N*****” as a derogatory and hateful term that could incite an emotionally charged physical response when a Caucasian person uses it in the presence of a Black/African American person; (53) your communications about the consequences of the decision made by Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Muldrew, who set a dangerous precedent when affirming that Black/African American people should expect to hear the word “N*****” in polite company when they are in the presence of Caucasian people;xvi (54) your communications about the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) 2020 study finding that homicides in which the shooter is white and the victim is Black were ruled to be justified 11.2% of the time, compared to just 1.2% of the time when the shooter is Black and the victim is white; xvii (55) your communications about the decision of the government of Malawi to ask Mike Tyson to become the official ambassador for the country’s cannabis crop; (56) your communications about the decision of Mike Tyson to accept the invitation of the government of Malawi; (57) your communications about the reservations of the Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) in making Mike Tyson a cannabis/marijuana brand ambassador for Malawi. II) Request for a Fee Waiver and Expedited Processing The requested records have demonstrated the existence of disparities on the basis of race in the manner (1) Blacks/African Americans are selectively being policed to be harassed by law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S; (2) Blacks/African Americans are being systemically excluded from meaningful participation in the marijuana/cannabis industry. These disparities have been documented by various non-partisan sources. For instance, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have noted in their April 2020 report that Black people are 3.6 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates.xviiiAs a Black man, who’s a proponent of legalizing, regulating and taxing drugs found on the black market (such as cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana); I have found some of the criticism directed at Megan Rapinoe to be unfair because she has destigmatized the compound known as cannabidiol (CBD), which is found in marijuana. I (personally) don’t believe Megan Rapinoe should be chastised for enjoying the medicinal benefits of marijuana without being penalized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) even if I think that the suspension of Sha’Carri Richardson from the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics was profoundly unjust. Beware. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 4

17. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 As a Black man who has previously filed a charge of employment discrimination pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 and 1991 Civil Rights Act with the EEOC, I was shocked by the statements made by Commissioner Peter N. Kirsanow in the report published by the USCCR entitled: Examining the Race Effects of Stand Your Ground Law and Related Issues. In that report, Peter Kirsanow wrote: “After all, no one has a constitutional right to a particular job – or to any job at all – but the right to carry a gun is protected by the Second Amendment.” I (personally) was shocked by the statement made by Peter Kirsanow when taking into consideration the facts that led him to making the arguments he has advanced. As a Black man, I would like to take this opportunity to denounce discrimination on the bases of gender, racial background, sexual orientation, national origin and religious affiliation. I (personally) believe that people (1) should not be discriminated upon when applying for a position of employment, (2) should not have to tolerate hearing the derogatory term “N*****” at work, in school or elsewhere; (3) should not be retaliated upon for reporting the derogatory term “N*****.” Because of the statements made by Peter Kirsanow, I highly recommend you read Northwest Missouri State University (NMSU) response to a record request I had submitted with them pertaining to several racist and sexist incidents that occurred throughout the State of Missouri, including on their campus between September and November 2015. xix As a Black man, I would strongly caution you to refrain from using the derogatory term “N*****.” Beware. Keep yourselves at arm’s distance. As a Black man, who has previously lived very distressing events (in Sykesville, Maryland) between January 06th 2016 and May 20th 2016, I was equally shocked by the statements made by Commissioner Gail Heriot, which explicitly condoned and approved of violence. As a representative of the media, I direct you to page 43 of the USCCR report where Gail Heriot wrote: “Does the law hold a man who is violently and feloniously assaulted responsible for having brought the necessity for self-defense upon himself, on the sole ground that he failed to fly from his assailant when he might have safely done so? The Court’s answer was no. It held that while the right to use deadly force in self-defense is not available for minor trespasses or to a man who provoked the assault, ‘a true man, who is without fault, is not obliged to fly from an assailant, who, by violence or surprise, maliciously seeks to take his life or do him enormous bodily harm.’” As a Black man, I was shocked by the statements made by Gail Heriot because I believe the responsibility to de-escalate tense situations (by making genuine efforts to create a positive outcome) falls on the shoulders of law enforcement agents. I was (personally) very troubled by what occurred on June 14th 2020 in Statesboro, Georgia. Black Lives Matter. Beware. Keep yourselves at arm’s length. As a Black man, who has previously lived very disconcerting events between January 06th 2016 and July 2016, I highly recommend you read the National Council on Disability (NCD) January 20th 2000 report entitled: From Privileges to Rights: People Labeled With Psychiatric Disabilities Speak for Themselves.xxIn that report, the NCD recommended for (1) laws that allow the use of involuntary treatments such as forced drugging and inpatient and outpatient commitment to be viewed as inherently suspect, because they are incompatible with the principle of self-determination; (2) people labeled with psychiatric disabilities to have a major role in the direction and control of programs and services designed for their benefit; (3) mental health treatment to be about healing, not punishment; (4) federal research and demonstration resources to place a higher priority on the development of culturally appropriate alternatives to the medical and biochemical approaches to treatment of people labeled with psychiatric disabilities, W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 5

18. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 including self-help, peer support, and other consumer/survivor-driven alternatives to the traditional mental health system; (5) eligibility for services in the community to not be contingent on participation in treatment programs; (6) employment and training and vocational rehabilitation programs to account for the wide range of abilities, skills, knowledge, and experience of people labeled with psychiatric disabilities by administering programs that are highly individualized and responsive to the abilities, preferences, and personal goals of program participants; (7) federal income support programs like Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance to provide flexible and work-friendly support options so that people with episodic or unpredictable disabilities are not required to participate in the current "all or nothing" federal disability benefit system, often at the expense of pursuing their employment goals; (8) parity laws to not make it easier to force people into accepting "treatments" they do not want; (9) government civil rights enforcement agencies and publicly- funded advocacy organizations to work more closely together and with adequate funding to implement effectively critical existing laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, giving people labeled with psychiatric disabilities a central role in setting the priorities for enforcement and implementation of these laws; (10) federal, state, and local governments, including education, health care, social services, juvenile justice, and civil rights enforcement agencies, to work together to reduce the placement of children and young adults with disabilities, particularly those labeled seriously emotionally disturbed, in correctional facilities and other segregated settings. I (personally) have found the recommendations of the NCD to be very sound: I encourage you think about them and find ways to implement them in your city/county/state. Take care. I hereby declare under penalty of perjury that all the statements I have made are to the best of my knowledge true and accurate. Respectfully submitted: W (AACL) Michael A. Ayele Anti-Racist Human Rights Activist Audio-Visual Media Analyst Anti-Propaganda Journalist W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 6

19. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 Work Cited iPlease be advised that I have previously disseminated a vast number of documents obtained through records request via Archive.org, Scribd.com, Medium.com and YouTube.com. These documents have been made available to the public at no financial expense to them. As a member of the media, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the records you disclose to me could be made available to the general public through the means I have mentioned above or other ones. On December 10th 2021, I have launched a website on Wordpress.com for the purpose of making the records previously disclosed to me by the U.S government further accessible to members of the general public interested in the activities of their elected and non- elected representatives. You can find out more about the recent publications of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (AACL) here.: https://michaelayeleaacl.wordpress.com/ iiWhile Bernard Noble sat in a Louisiana jail riding out a 13-year sentence for possession of 2.8 grams of marijuana, cannabis legalization and decriminalization swept through the United States. With no chance of parole under Louisiana’s“habitualoffender” law – he had been arrested for possession of cocaine and marijuana in the past – Noble became a symbol for the movement to reform discriminatory drug laws. Cannabis is a booming industry and the Covid-19 pandemic has, if anything, helped. The legal cannabis industry now accounts for 321,000 full-time jobs across the 37 states with legal medical or adult use markets, according to the cannabis information site Leafly’s 2020 jobs report. This past year, when much of the country was still reeling from Covid, the cannabis industry added 77,300 jobs, with US sales hitting $18.3bn. The result is a 32% increase in year- over-year growth – creating jobs at a faster rate than any other industry in the United States. But for many Black Americans – who are close to four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis charges as white people – the prospect of generating wealth through the cannabis industry is out of reach. (…) But owning a dispensary or cultivation business isn’t required to be part of the cannabis industry, says Caroline Phillips, founder of the National Cannabis Festival. She doesn’t need a marijuana license to operate the festival, which this year hosted the rappers Method Man and Redman and drew an estimated 20,000 participants. Like many other Black women and minorities, Phillips was deterred from opening a dispensary due to barriers to access such as capital. Instead, she invested all her savings to produce the first annual NCF in 2016. “The reality is many Black andbrown people face barriers to access when it comes to money and licensing,” she says. “But there are other avenues people can take, like developing a brand on social media and then licensing the name to a cultivation company that provides products for placement in dispensaries. Many of the brand names you see aren’t necessarily cannabis cultivation companies, they are strong brands that have great reach and that makes it appealing to put their name on products.” W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 7

20. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 Launching a dispensary or cultivation business costs anywhere from $750,000 to $1m. There are licensing fees, which some states have lowered to give social equity applicants easier access. For instance, when New Jersey legalized medical cannabis in 2010 the license application fee was $20,000 with proof of real estate acquisition. The adult use application fee was lowered to $100 for micro-businesses and $200 for standard businesses, with the complete application fee between $500 and $2,000. There is no capital requirement, and the legislation gives priority to minorities and those previously incarcerated. (…) Illinois has a cannabis market with a revenue of more than $1bn and was the first state to include social equity in its legislation. The state has been praised as the “gold standard” for cannabis legalization. But Johnson says the licensing for hopeful social equity applicants has been troubled. In Illinois the first round of $62m in funds took a year to distribute to social equity programs and applicants. (…) The state of Illinois now has a $32m revolving loan fund for social equity applicants financed by cannabis businesses established prior to adult use legalization. A quarter of tax revenue is funneled into the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Program to repair communities heavily impacted by anti-marijuana laws. The legislation doesn’t require applicants to own real estate and lowers the application fee from $5,000 to $2,500 for social equity applicants. “The criteria is not just based on the individual, but the communities. You can’t normalize and legalize an activity for which the prohibition of the exact same activity destroyed generations of communities,” says Hutchinson. “And you can’t talk about racial justice without talking about economic justice.” In July, Virginia made history as the first state in the south to legalize adult use marijuana. The commonwealth “thoughtfully” established a cannabis authority modeled after Illinois, with social equity as a priority, says JM Pedini, development director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “Under the Democratic majority there is a deep desire to establish an industry that creates economic opportunity for Virginians and does so in a manner that is equitable, particularly for those that have been most impacted by marijuana prohibition,” says Pedini, who also serves as the executive director of the state chapter Virginia Norml. The social equity criteria in Virginia includes anyone who graduated from an HBCU in Virginia, anyone who has a marijuana conviction and anyone who has lived in an area determined to be disproportionately policed for marijuana crimes. All social equity applicants will also have a percentage of the license application fee waived. A cannabis reinvestment fund will distribute tax revenue from the sale of cannabis to create scholarship programs for marginalized communities and no- interest business loans for social equity applicants. In Virginia, anyone over the age of 21 can grow up to four plants at their place of residence, making it easier for aspiring cultivators to gain necessary skills, says Jelissa Washington. Washington operates Dimebudz, a small grow project in Virginia. After using cannabis to medicate for anxiety, she soon realized the quality was inconsistent. Home cultivation allows her W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 8

21. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 to conduct the research needed to produce a consistent product. The cannabis industry is booming, but for many Black Americans the price of entry is steep, The Guardian.: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/07/cannabis-industry-black-americans Five years after cannabis legalization, California is awash with signs of an apparently booming industry. Californians can toke on Justin Bieber-branded joints and ash their blunts in Seth Rogen’s $95 ceramics. They can sip on THC-infused seltzers, relax inside a cannabis cafe, and get edibles delivered to their doors. But behind the flashy facade, the legal weed industry remains far from the law-abiding, prosperous sector many had hoped for. In fact, it’s a mess. Voters passed a law in November 2016 making recreational marijuana legal. But today, the vast majority of the market remains underground – about 80-90% of it, according to experts. Because that 2016 law, known as Proposition 64, gave municipalities the power to ban weed as they see fit, the majority of cities and counties still don’t allow the sale of cannabis, inhibiting the growth of the legal market. In the places that do allow pot shops and grows, business owners say high taxes, the limited availability of licenses, and expensive regulatory costs have put the legal market out of reach. And many of the Black and brown entrepreneurs who were supposed to benefit from legalization have actually ended up losing money. Meanwhile, consumers remain confused about what’s legal and what’s not. For now, the only way legal, state-licensed businesses say they are able to stay profitable is to keep one foot in the illegal, unlicensed market –often called the “legacy” or “traditional” market. California’s cannabis conundrum speaks to the enormous challenges of bringing a gray market that for decades has thrived in the shadows into the light. But the problems run deeper than any flaws in Proposition 64, or actions taken over the past five years. Rather, the state’s weed economy is in disarray largely because of everything that happened in the two decades before Prop 64 passed. Cannabis has long been a crucial part of Golden state culture, a perfect fit for the laid-back, health-conscious attitude that has been percolating out west since well before the first hippies arrived in the Haight. The story of California’s legal weed chaos dates back to 1996, when voters passed a law allowing medical marijuana. At the time, Bay Area Aids activists saw the way pot relieved pain and stimulated hunger among their emaciated and desperately ill friends. That led to a grassroots campaign to get Proposition 215, a measure legalizing the medical use of cannabis, on the California ballot. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 9

22. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 For the next 20 years, a laissez-faire, gray market for medical marijuana flourished and became entrenched. With doctors’ recommendations for medical marijuana easy and cheap to come by, cannabis entrepreneurs practiced a lucrative form of civil disobedience, opening dispensaries, manufacturing edibles and growing acres of plants that brought in enough money to offset intermittent law enforcement crackdowns. The industry developed protocols to get a business back up and running right after a raid, such as keeping cash offsite and obscuring ownership through a series of management companies. If you could withstand the legal uncertainty, it was a good time to make money in marijuana. By 2010, the city of Los Angeles had about 2,000 pot shops illegally selling cannabis. Statewide, the total illicit market surged, causing Mexican cartels to either stop growing weed or to relocate their grows to California. Some municipalities attempted to get this wild west of weed under control by licensing, taxing and regulating local businesses, but many cities and counties were scared off, especially after a court ruled in 2011 that any local government trying to regulate weed was complicit in violating federal law. Other places tried to prosecute and shut down as many dispensaries and grows as possible, only to find that even the most resource-intensive efforts were rarely effective. So by the time California lawmakers actually set about creating licenses and regulations for medical cannabis in 2015, and voters passed an initiative legalizing recreational weed in 2016, much of the industry had become accustomed to operating illicitly and preferred to keep it that way. Avibrant and unregulated marijuana ecosystem was operating in every corner of the most populous state in the country, now the fifth-largest economy in the world – attempting to get it under control was like trying to put toothpaste back in a tube. California’s illicit market is enormous and efficient. This year alone, the state has seized more than 1.2m illegal cannabis plants and more than 180,000lb of processed pot. The illicit market encompasses both well-intentioned entrepreneurs who tried to legalize but couldn’t afford it and cartels with guns, growing pot using harsh chemicals that leach into local groundwater. It comprises both legal-looking storefronts selling unregulated vape pens to Californians and traffickers bringing marijuana to states where sales remain illegal. For a marijuana enterprise today, becoming legal has often meant sacrificing a good deal of profit. Businesses frequently pay an effective tax rate of 70%, in part because they are breaking federal law and therefore aren’t able to take tax deductions, but also because politicians see the industry as a source of tax revenue and set higher rates.(…) California shows that fixing America’s chaotic approach to the cannabis economy wouldn’t be easy.Legalizing in order to drum up tax revenue seems to only raise the cost of running a cannabis business and therefore the cost of a gram of weed, pushing sellers and consumers back into the illicit market. Local politicians will always fight for the ability to opt out of a legalization measure, but allowing individual cities or counties to make their own decisions about whether to participate in legalization seems only to ensure the survival of those who operate outside it. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 10

23. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 But the longer we allow cannabis to remain state-legal and federally illegal, the harder it will be to fix. Though botching weed legalization sounds like a trivial issue, it intersects with many of the issues that are fundamental to our lives, from criminal justice to public health, gang violence to economic inequality, the opioid crisis to the wellness craze. Cannabis is the second-most- valuable crop in the country, after corn and ahead of soybeans. It’s the most common reason for arrest in America. And despite marijuana’s dubious reputation, research has shown the plant “may have therapeutic potential in almost all diseases affecting humans”. Legalization remains trapped in a bizarre netherworld of low-priority, high-complexity issues that are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Yes, it’s cool that you can legally buy watermelon lemonade weed gummies with consistent dosage at hundreds of stores across California, and yes, it’s great that far fewer people are being arrested for cannabis crimes. But if legalization was supposed to convert California’s marijuana chaos into an orderly, legal, and profitable industry, the first five years have been a failure. California legalized weed five years ago. Why is the illicit market still thriving? The Guardian.: https://www.theguardian.com/us- news/2021/nov/02/california-legal-weed-cannabis-industry-economy Half a million dollars and nearly four years into his Los Angeles-based cannabis venture, Donnie Andersonhad no shop, no prospects and a mountain of debt. With financial help from family and friends, Anderson rented a $6,000-a-month space in January 2018 for his new cannabisretail shop. He kept paying the rent as the city’s permitting process dragged on. He bought cabinets and other equipment as he waited. And waited. Sick of waiting, he’s selling all that equipment and giving up his lease. Inaction by the city is forcing him to give up his dream, he says. “It’s killing business owners,” Anderson says.“All the air has been let out of me.” In November 2016, Californians voted to legalize recreational cannabis. But nearly five years later, the state and many of its cities and counties are still figuring out how exactly to regulate the industry. The challenge has been particularly frustrating for Black entrepreneurs like Anderson, who were promised a leg-up getting started, but have seen little movement in that regard. Following regulation, several cities and counties in California created social equity programs to help entrepreneurs in communities most harmed by the war on drugs. Black people have borne the brunt of marijuana criminalization in the US over the past 20 years. They’re nearly four times as likely as white people to be arrested for pot violations, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, even though the two groups use marijuana at roughly the same rate. The equity programs were supposed to help people of color and those formerly incarcerated for cannabis crimes get licensed to run all types of cannabis businesses: cultivation, manufacturing, delivery, retail. The programs created big expectations, but implementation has been much trickier. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 11

24. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 “Many people got totally burnt,” said Christine De La Rosa, co-founder and CEO of cannabis company The People’s Ecosystem, who planned to apply for a social equity license in Los Angeles but didn’t win the city’s lottery for a chance. “I can’t think of one [program] that has been good for women or for people of color. It has been a failure.” The main problem, De La Rosa said, is that social equity programs don’t help enough with the financial side of business ownership. Without federal cannabis legalization, big banks won’t provide loans, and people of color have more trouble getting venture capital, she said. “This has been the farce of social equity”, she said. “You tell a bunch of formerly incarcerated people of color, ‘we’re going to give you a license.’So now you have the license but you don’t have the money.” (…) The lack of capital has doomed many Black cannabis entrepreneurs, said Virgil Grant, who opened his first dispensary in Compton in 2004 and owns three in the Los Angeles area. He helped design the Los Angeles social equity program, but admits red tape and financial challenges have made it nearly impossible for Black owners to open cannabis businesses. Black owners face obstacles other entrepreneurs don’t understand, Grant said. “You have a bunch of white guys who fall into money”, he said. “They turn a corner and money is there, waiting for them. We have to bleed working for it.” Without deep pockets to fall back on, Black entrepreneurs are less likely to weather other challenges the budding legal industry has faced. Legalization took effect in 2018, but businesses are competing with a fierce black market. The vast majority of California’s cannabis business is still unregulated due in part to the local jurisdictions, two-thirds of which don’t allow cannabis companies. Three-quarters of marijuana commerce is illegal, agricultural economist Daniel Sumner estimates. Licensed businesses face taxes as high as 40% and have complained about unscrupulous landlords who triple rents or demand a share of a tenant’s business. Some cities had already hit their limit for cannabis businesses by the time their social equity programs took effect, leaving owners to either wait years for approval or rely on unlicensed sales. All of that inflates prices for legal cannabis, which in turn drives consumers to the black market. State and local officials have had trouble figuring out how to shut down unlicensed businesses. They know the black market hurts legal business owners, but they have few resources to deal with the overwhelming problem and fines are woefully inadequate, they said. “We certainly are aware of the underground market,” said Davina Smith, who leads Sacramento’s cannabis program. “It’s a tough nut to crack. The penalties aren’t there. There’s not much of an incentive for pursuing them.” Meanwhile, funding and worker shortages have slowed down the licensing process. Many jurisdictions have been inundated with applications, but outdated computer systems have W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 12

25. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 prevented progress, said city officials up and down the state. (…) Seven cities and counties have equity programs: Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Long Beach, Humboldt county and Mendocino county. Nine other California jurisdictions are developing them. Oakland and San Francisco have found some success with theirs – Oakland provides grants and no-interest loans to equity applicants, while San Francisco has streamlined the permit process, allowing shops to open across the city, rather than be limited to just a handful of neighborhoods. In Oakland, 240 equity applicants have been fully permitted, while 400 others are being processed. But anecdotal evidence suggests several cannabis businesses there either never opened or quickly shut down. “Most of the people who started with the first round of social equity licensing no longer exist,” said De La Rosa of The People’s Ecosystem. “They couldn’t get access to the capital.” The city of Oakland does not track whether licensees are still operational but is researching ways to help businesses survive, said Gregory Minor, who directs the equity program. “We said from the beginning it’s difficult to come up with something new and get it right out of the gate,” he said. “We’ve tried to make adjustments all along, but we’re also looking at coming up with a package of recommendations for the city council.” In Los Angeles, just one of every 10 social equity license applicants has been approved, all of them in the past few months, said Packer. In Long Beach and Sacramento, limits on the number of dispensaries have prevented the cities from issuing new equity licenses since the first round of openings immediately after legalization. ‘A farce of social equity:’ California is failing its Black cannabis businesses.: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/04/cannabis-california- black-businesses iii U.S. soccer superstar and Olympian Megan Rapinoe has been slinging her own CBD products and promoting their benefits for athletes at the Olympics, and people on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms are not having it. Critics are outraged over alleged hypocrisy and even racism, saying the anti-doping agency for the Olympic Games is ignoring the actions of the white athlete on the heels of suspending Black sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson after she tested positive for marijuana this month. (…) CBD and THC are natural compounds of the cannabis plant that have very different biological effects. THC is the intoxicating compound that makes users feel temporarily high, while CBD is believed to have more anti-inflammatory properties, Daniele Piomelli, director of the Center for the Study of Cannabis at the University of California, Irvine, told NPR. In an email to Forbes, Rapinoe described the ways in which she uses Mendi CBD products and W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 13

26. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 their impact on her body and mind. "CBD has become part of my all-natural recovery system that I use throughout the day to help with pain and inflammation, stabilize my mood and get better sleep. Instead of taking Advil or other pain management meds, I've almost exclusively substituted with Mendi CBD products," she wrote, adding, "It's truly part of my entire day." She lamented the fact that she will be competing in Tokyo without a combination of gel pills and gummies, as traveling internationally with cannabis products can be risky. "It's my go-to to calm me down after a hard training or game, as well as for sleep," she explained. "I've noticed a significant difference in my stress and anxiety levels when I am consistently using Mendi CBD products versus when I don't." After Richardson was suspended from competition, the runner revealed that she used marijuana after finding out about the death of her mother from a reporter during an interview. (…) Much of the public outcry is over the fact that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) allows athletes to use CBD but prohibits all other natural and synthetic cannabinoids. Both were banned until Jan. 1, 2018, when new rules went into effect. WADA explains that substances on its verboten list satisfy two of these three criteria: 1.It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance 2.It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athletes 3.It violates the spirit of sport It is unclear which of the criteria THC violates. WADA did not respond to NPR's request for comment.As Megan Rapinoe Promotes CBD Use, Sha’Carri Richardson Sits Out The Olympics, NPR.: https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live- updates/2021/07/28/1021545034/megan-rapinoe-cbd-shacarri-richardson-tokyo-olympics ivThe criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy. The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use. This ruling along w/ IOC denial of swim caps for natural hair is deeply troubling. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. AOC blasts IOC for suspending US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson over marijuana test, New York Post.: https://nypost.com/2021/07/02/aoc-blasts-ioc-for- suspending-shacarri-richardson-over-marijuana-test/ vWhite House and U.S Anti-Doping Agency Criticize Marijuana Ban After Richardson Suspension, Marijuana Moment.: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/white-house-and-u-s-anti- doping-agency-criticize-marijuana-ban-after-richardson-suspension/ viOn November 19th 2021 Rittenhouse was found not guilty for the killing of Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum at the 2020 protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he also shot and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. Richardson has been one amone many who have drawn comparisons W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 14

27. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 between Rittenhouse and the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was killed in 2014 by police while holding a toy gun. ‘I’m Black Before I Am an Athlete’: Sha’Carri Richardson Calls Out Fans Who Disagree with the Content She Posts, Atlanta Black Star on Yahoo News.: https://news.yahoo.com/m-black-am-athlete-sha-200000591.html viiMalawi has asked boxing star Mike Tyson to become the official ambassador for the country's cannabis crop. Agriculture Minister Lobin Low sent a letter to Tyson inviting him to take up the role, and said legalisation in Malawi had created new opportunities. Tyson, a former world heavyweight champion, is an entrepreneur and has invested in a cannabis farm in the US. But the move has been criticised by some as the former boxer was imprisoned for sex offences in the 1990s. (…) The Centre for Public Accountability, a Malawian civil society group, criticised the latest move due to Tyson's previous crimes. The former boxer was jailed in 1992 after being convicted of rape in Indiana. He was released in 1995 after serving less than three years of his sentence. "The CPA is failing to comprehend why Malawi would want to have a convicted rapist as its brand ambassador, more especially, at this time, when efforts to curb violence against women are part of the government agenda," the group's acting director, Kondwani Munthali, said in a statement. Mike Tyson: Malawi asks former boxer to be cannabis ambassador, BBC.: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59406196 viiiWhy Starting a Marijuana Business is So Hard, Business Insider.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKgaOYH4-rs ixIllinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Saturday that he'd reached an agreement with key lawmakers on a plan to legalize recreational marijuana in the state starting next year. The legislation would allow adults 21 and older to legally buy cannabis for recreational use from licensed dispensaries. Illinois residents could possess up to about an ounce (30 grams) of marijuana, while nonresidents could possess about half an ounce (15 grams). The measure also would automatically expunge some marijuana convictions. If it passes, Illinois would join 10 other states, including neighboring Michigan, in legalizing recreational marijuana. While the Illinois law would take effect Jan. 1, the first licenses for Illinois growers, processors and dispensaries wouldn't be issued until May and July 2020, the governor's office said. Illinois Governor Announces Plan to Legalize Marijuana, Voice of W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 15

28. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 America (VOA).: https://www.voanews.com/a/illinois-governor-announces-plan-to-legalize- marijuana-/4904009.html xWhite House hold Equal Pay Day Event with U.S women’s soccer team; CNBC.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DK_tTR0IJU xiMegan Rapinoe Explains Her National Anthem Protest on the Players’ Tribune, Bleacher Report.: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2667966-megan-rapinoe-explains-her-national- anthem-protest-on-the-players-tribune xiiThank you, Black Women. – Megan Rapinoe, Twitter.: https://twitter.com/mpinoe/status/1325113736986812417 xiiiWeed is great for many a thing but running faster isn’t one of them. LET HER RUN!!! – Gabrielle Union, Twitter.: https://twitter.com/itsgabrielleu/status/1410797821826060288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcam p%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1410797821826060288%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref _url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fvannessajackson%2Fshacarri-richardson- explains-marijuana-usage xiv Gabrielle Union and NBC settle, The St. Louis American.: https://www.stlamerican.com/entertainment/hot_sheet/gabrielle-union-and-nbc- settle/article_99d6e90c-0b2e-11eb-b6fd-a31eb4dceced.html Gabrielle Union files discrimination complaint against ‘American’s Got Talent’ producers, NBC News.: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/gabrielle-union-files- discrimination-complaint-against-america-s-got-talent-n1225231 xvSandra Bullock has a lot to say about the lessons offered by her new film The Unforgivable, but she also has unique insight into what it’s like being a famous white woman raising Black children in a world conditioned to see them as threats. It’s been six years since the two-time Oscar winner appeared on the cover ofPEOPLE Magazine with her adopted Black children, daughter Laila, now 8, and 11-year-old Louis, who was just a baby when Bullock began raising him in 2010. Since then, the names of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and many other Black boys, girls, men, and women have made headlines around the globe after their lives were tragically cut short due to what many Americans see as the nation’s ongoing struggle to address issues of race. Sandra Bullock opens up about fears of raising Black son, The Grio.: https://thegrio.com/2021/12/01/sandra-bullock-black-children/ xviAround 1 a.m. on June 14, 2020, 21-year-old Marc Wilson, who is Black, and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Emma Rigdon, who is white, left a Taco Bell in Statesboro, Georgia. At a stoplight, they pulled up next to a pickup truck. Wilson’s lawyers say that at least one of the white teenagers inside the truck shouted the n-word and “your lives don’t matter.” Wilson later told police that the teenagers in the pickup truck swerved in front of him, tried to knock his sedan off the highway, and threw an object that impacted the car with a loud sound W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 16

29. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 that made him think they might be shooting at him. Wilson pulled out a gun and fired out his window at the truck. The bullet struck and killed 17-year-old Haley Hutcheson, who was sitting in the pickup’s backseat. Prosecutors charged him with felony murder and aggravated assault, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison and the possibility of the death penalty. Wilson claimed self-defense. “Me and my girlfriend were very scared that night,” Wilson told police later that week, according to a detective’s testimony. “Everything going on in this country, I’m not going to let me and my girl get run off the road.” Wilson was denied bail because Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Muldrew concluded that he “poses a significant threat” to the community.(…) Wilson’s case marks another measure of self-defense laws in America and who those laws protect. After Hutcheson was shot, the teens in the pickup truck drove to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The four teens — 18-year-olds Mason Glisson, Luke Conley, and Ashton DeLoach, and a 16- year-old girl — told police a similar story: They were at a stoplight beside a sedan, and when the light turned green and they drove off, the sedan's driver opened fire on them, according to court documents. Though they admitted to drinking while on the road, they were not breathalyzed. When officers asked if they had any idea why someone would shoot at them, they said they didn’t know. But all four said that they believed that one of the people in the sedan was a classmate named Marijane —DeLoach said he was “1,000% sure” it was her, according to police records. They had encountered Marijane, who is white, earlier that night in a convenience store with her boyfriend, who is Black. The 16-year-old girl in the truck testified that when the truck passed the sedan at an intersection, Conley and DeLoach stuck their hands and head out the window, though she said she didn’t know if they said anything. She said she thought they were waving at the person they assumed — mistakenly, it turned out — to be Marijane. In one of the police reports, Detective Dustin Cross wrote that Conley "was seen yelling out of a window of the victim vehicle just prior to the shooting." In his interviews with police, Conley gave conflicting statements about who he thought was in the sedan and was charged with obstruction of justice and arrested — that case remains pending. The morning after the shooting, the Statesboro Police Department issued a press release seeking information about it. Later, they received a call from a woman who said her friend Emma Rigdon had told her about an incident that might be related: the woman conveyed that Rigdon told her the shooting had come after the teens in the truck “started using racial slurs and racial signs,” according to the police report. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 17

30. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 The next day, officers met with Rigdon. Wilson, who happened to call her while she was speaking to police, joined the conversation by speakerphone. Rigdon said that when the couple pulled up at the intersection outside the Taco Bell, Wilson told her that the guys in the truck beside them were saying the n-word to him. She herself didn’t hear them, she said, because she had been distracted by her puppy in her lap. But after the light turned green, the truck swerved in front of them, and two boys were leaning out the windows shouting at them, she and Wilson said. “A truck full of — all I saw were white males —white males driving their car at me and are flipping me off and yelling racial slurs,” Wilson said to police. “With everything going on right now,” Rigdon told police, referring to the 2020 racial justice protests across the nation, Wilson “honestly thought that they were trying to run him off the road, and I was like, ‘Marc, I’m scared.’” “It’s in the middle of the night,” Rigdon testified at a hearing. “There’s no lights on that road. I didn’t really know what was gonna happen.” An embankment lay beside the two-lane road, and Wilson told police he veered close enough to hear the rumble strips along the edge of the pavement. He said he fired two or three “warning shots” below the truck, which caused the truck's driver, Glisson, to slow down — DeLoach recounted the same detail in his testimony, saying "it looked like he was shooting at the ground at first." Then the truck accelerated, and Wilson heard a “loud boom,” he said. He said he thought the truck had either rammed his car or the teens had returned fire. Police suspect the sound may have been from a thrown beer — officers found beer cans by the side of the road matching the brand the teens were drinking that night. “I had no clue what hit me,” Wilson told police, according to Detective Travis Kreun’s testimony. “I thought that they were shooting at me.” Wilson fired again, then turned at the next intersection. The day after the call with police, Wilson turned himself in. In court, Wilson’s lawyers have argued that his actions meet the standard of the state’s self- defense law, which categorizes a person’s vehicle as a dwelling where they have “the right to stand his or her ground and use force.” The evidence “shows that Wilson’s vehicle was being attacked by the truck” and “shows the racial animus exhibited” by the teens in the truck, defense attorneys wrote in a brief to the court. “Wilson attempted to ignore the truck’s initial encroachment of his vehicle lane of travel. However, the truck continued in its violently aggressive advancement causing Wilson to fear for his life and the safety of his passenger.” The defense team has cited America’s history of racist violence against Black people as further explanation for the fear Wilson may have felt. W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 18

31. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 “My worst nightmare as a Black man in this country is to be on a deserted road with a truckload of white, drunk men,” defense lawyer Francys Johnson said in court. “There are bodies that’s strewn through the history of this country that say that that’s a reasonable fear for a number of people.” Johnson noted the 1998 killing of James Byrd Jr., who was dragged from the back of a pickup truck in Texas; three white men were convicted of murder, two of them sentenced to death. In another incident, in 2011, a pickup truck full of white teens fatally struck James Anderson in a parking lot in Mississippi; the driver was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. At a moment when racial tensions were simmering across the country, Wilson's case sparked an online backlash against both him and the teens. Hutcheson’s aunt, Heather Ernst, said in court that her family has received threats on social media, including anonymous comments about desecrating Hutcheson’s grave. In a brief to the court, Wilson’s attorney Mawuli Davis identified a man in a “white heritage” Facebook group who made a “racially motivated threat” against Wilson and attended at least one court hearing. Prosecutors have argued that Wilson acted unreasonably and challenged the allegation that the white teens carried racist beliefs. In her questioning of DeLoach at a hearing, Assistant District Attorney Daphne Totten asked, “Do you have any Black friends?” And after he replied that a Black friend lived with him for some time, Totten said, “So would it be fair to say you don’t have any issues with Black people?” In his testimony, DeLoach recalled an incident from earlier that night: After a brief, friendly interaction with a middle-aged Black man in a convenience store parking lot, Conley said to the man “Black Lives Matter” in a tone that indicated he “was just saying it to be funny” and “trying to be a little smart aleck,” DeLoach said. “And I kind of told him to shut up about it.” When Conley took the stand during a preliminary hearing and Wilson’s defense attorney asked if he had uttered racial slurs that night, including n-word lover, he exercised his Fifth Amendment right, declining to answer any questions. In Glisson’s testimony, he said that he and his friends sometimes used the n-word in “a joking matter.” “I don’t mean nothing by it,” DeLoach said, noting that he has “a lot of Black friends.” “I’m not racist at all.” Totten has argued that Wilson acted out of anger more than self-defense. On that basis, Totten opposed setting a bail amount for Wilson, even though he had no criminal record. “We believe if a person is inclined to act like that because of words or hand gestures there’s no telling what he might do if granted a bond,” she said in court. Judge Muldrew agreed. “Due to the factthat Mr. Wilson’s anger appears to have overtaken him when he had contact with the persons in the truck,” Muldrew ruled, “the court finds that the defendant poses a significant threat to the persons in the community and bond will be denied.” W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 19

32. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 Wilson remains in jail in Bulloch County as he awaits trial. A Black Man Charged With Murder Said He Shot At A Group of White Teens in Self-Defense, Yahoo.: https://www.yahoo.com/news/black-man-facing-murder-charges-154751101.html xviiIn homicides where the shooter is black and the victims is white, those are ruled to be justified 1.2 percent of the time. In cases where the shooter is white and the victim is black those are ruled to be justified 11.2 percent of the time. Ten times more likely if the shooter is white and the victims is black, than if the shooter is black and the victim is white. In fact, despite the fact that a racial disparity already existed in justified shootings, i.e., if the shooter was white and victim black it was ruled to be justified 9.5% of the time, and the inverse was 1.1%., the disparity grows when Stand Your Ground is enacted. In other words, if you are (…) black (…) the chances of your death being ruled “justified” and, therefore, immune to prosecution increases if you die in a Stand Your Ground state.(…) A team of health scientists studied the Tampa Bay Times data of 237 cases from 2012 – 2013 and updated all the unresolved case statuses for their analysis in 2015. They then applied traditional and accepted social scientist analytical techniques to the data and their conclusions was no less startling than that of Roman: “SYG legislation in Florida has a quantifiable racial bias that reveals a lenience in convictions if the victim is non-White, which provides evidence towards unequal treatment under the law.” Their examination of the data also confirmed that a suspect was twice as likely to be convicted if the victim were white, versus non-white, where a SYG defense was asserted. This confirms the shift that Roman saw in the national data. It means that if you are an African American asserting an SYG defense where a white person was killed, under their analysis you have double the chances of being convicted as opposed if the victim were black. If the victim were African American, and the alleged killer asserting the SYG defense were white, he also better than double the odds of being let go. The combination of these two social scientists’ studies – one nationally, one focused on Florida – provide a compelling case that there is racial bias in the application of SYG laws that tilt against justice for African American victims, and bias in the application of justice depending on whether you are an African American or white person accused of shooting another white person. Stand Your Ground, in other words, is a perfect illustration of the disparity in the administration of justice if you are an African American – whether a victim, or unable to assert a successful Stand Your Ground Challenge. A thread that continues throughout any analysis of Stand Your Ground is the presence within its legislative language that a person using deadly force must reasonably believe that using “such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm…or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. What constitutes reasonable belief? We have seen that law enforcement officials in Florida have used an extremely broad, subjective standard. This is due, in no small part, to the deliberate omission of any criteria for what constitutes a reasonable belief, either from the Legislature of W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 20

33. REQUEST FOR RECORDS 12/28/2021 the courts. According to one commentator, the statute instead created a “presumption of fear” that moves with the individual creating an arena of lethal force that is already presumed to be legal, notwithstanding whether the force was really proportional to the apparent threat. In the absence of an objective reasonable person standard, the person inserting themselves into a situation where they will eventually claim a Stand Your Ground defense is allowed to import their own biases to color the lens through which they view a situation. It is what they believe. In other words, Stand Your Ground legitimizes a person’s implicit bias. The challenge is that the data is implied – it relies on social science into the type of racism that is not overt, but which taints the entire the criminal justice ecosystem. This Commission and many social science researchers, along with racial crime statistics reported by state and federal agencies, allows an understanding of how negative perceptions of racial minorities’ criminality lead to uneven racial treatment in the criminal justice system, which in turn implicitly drives feeling of racial bias and discrimination. David Harris, in his testimony to the Commission, talked about this at length. In shorthand, he called it, in essence, a mental rule of thumb. In psychological terms, he credited that rule of thum as a “heuristic.” Both Harris, in his written testimony and Katheryn Russell-Brown, in an article we were provided refer to the “suspicion heuristic” – which describes the psychological process through which many people link blackness with criminality. (…) In other words, implicit bias, including a suspicion heuristic about African Americans, becomes a means of justifying killing them. Statement of Commissioner Michael Yaki, Examining the Race Effects of Stand Your Ground Laws, United States Commission for Civil Rights (USCCR).: https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/2020/04-06-Stand-Your-Ground.pdf xviiiIn every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost 10 times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010. Montana, Kentucky, Illinois, West Virginia and Iowa were the states with the highest racial disparities in marijuana possession arrest rates (9.62, 9.36, 7.51, and 7.26 respectively). A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/marijuanareport_03232021.pdf xixNorthwest Missouri State University Have Disclosed Responsive Documents Pertaining to Racist & Sexist Incident that Occurred on Their Campus Between September and November 2015. W (AACL), Michael Ayele, Scribd.: https://www.scribd.com/document/482700315/Northwest-Missouri-State-University-Have- Disclosed-Responsive-Documents-Pertaining-Incidents-that-Occurred-Between-September-and- November-2015 xxFrom Privileges to Rights: People Labeled with Psychiatric Disabilities Speak for Themselves, The National Council on Disability (NCD).: https://ncd.gov/publications/2000/jan202000 W (AACL) – MICHAEL A. AYELE 21