Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-19-01468/USCOURTS-ca10-19-01468-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jena Griswold
Appellee
Jared Polis
Appellee
Brian Washington
Appellant
Dave Young
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

BRIAN WASHINGTON, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant, 

v. 

JARED POLIS; JENA GRISWOLD; 

and DAVE YOUNG, 

 Defendants - Appellees. 

No. 19-1468 

(D.C. No. 1:19-CV-00989-LTB-GPG) 

(D. Colo.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

_________________________________ 

Before BACHARACH, BALDOCK, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________

This appeal follows the dismissal of a pro se complaint for failure to 

comply with federal pleading standards. Because the appeal does not 

challenge the district court’s reasoning, we affirm. 

This case began when Mr. Brian Washington filed a purported “letter 

of credit” seeking $4.2 trillion from the federal government. The district 

 * Oral argument would not materially help us to decide this appeal, so 

we have thus decided the appeal based on the appellate briefs and the 

record on appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). 

 This order and judgment does not constitute binding precedent except 

under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. 

But the order and judgment may be cited for its persuasive value if 

otherwise appropriate. Fed. R. App. P. 32.1(a); 10th Cir. R. 32.1(A). 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

April 13, 2020

Christopher M. Wolpert 

Clerk of Court

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court could not discern a specific cause of action from the filing, but 

opened a case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Given the absence of an identifiable 

claim, the court 

 directed Mr. Washington to use a court-approved form for the 

complaint and 

 told Mr. Washington how to cure the pleading defect. 

Mr. Washington filed an amended complaint, but it was just as 

cryptic. The court thus dismissed the amended complaint under Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 8, which requires federal complaints to “simpl[y], concise[ly], and 

direct[ly]” state a plausible claim for relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a), (d)(1). 

On appeal, Mr. Washington again asks us to discharge all of his “public 

debt” without saying what was wrong with the district court’s ruling. 

When reviewing a dismissal under Rule 8, we ordinarily apply the 

abuse-of-discretion standard. United States ex rel. Lemmon v. Envirocare 

of Utah, Inc., 614 F.3d 1163, 1167 (10th Cir. 2010). But arguments not 

clearly made in an opening brief are waived even when the appellant is 

pro se. Toevs v. Reid, 685 F.3d 903, 911 (10th Cir. 2012). Though a pro se 

litigant’s filings are construed liberally, Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 

520–21 (1972) (per curiam), the court cannot act as an advocate for pro se 

litigants, Garrett v. Selby Connor Maddux & Janer, 425 F.3d 836, 840–41 

(10th Cir. 2005); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). 

Appellate Case: 19-1468 Document: 010110332492 Date Filed: 04/13/2020 Page: 2
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Even under the most liberal construction, Mr. Washington’s brief 

makes only a conclusory assertion of error. By failing to address the 

district court’s reasoning, Mr. Washington has waived appellate review of 

the dismissal under Rule 8. 

The absence of any challenge to the district court’s reasoning is fatal 

because “we will not question the reasoning of a district court unless an 

appellant ‘actually argue[s]’ against it.” Clark v. Colbert, 895 F.3d 1258, 

1265 (10th Cir. 2018) (alteration in original) (quoting Phillips v. Calhoun, 

956 F.2d 949, 954 (10th Cir. 1992)). We thus affirm the dismissal.1

 

 Entered for the Court 

 Robert E. Bacharach 

 Circuit Judge 

 1

 Despite the affirmance, we grant leave to proceed in formal pauperis. 

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