One of the most significant roles in Baltimore County is once again on the ballot with a longtime incumbent State’s Attorney facing scrutiny and another election with different voices stepping forward to lead on crime and prosecution to protect citizens. City prosecutor Lauren Lipscomb tells Nestor why she is running in the primary after many years working on the other side of the invisible border between our city and county.

Lauren Lipscomb, a candidate for Baltimore County State’s Attorney, discussed her qualifications and platform. She highlighted her extensive experience as a prosecutor in Baltimore City, having handled thousands of cases and worked under four state attorneys. Lipscomb emphasized the need for a new approach and experienced leadership, citing the county’s lack of change in the role since 1976. She criticized the current state attorney for being ineffective and stressed the importance of community engagement, victim rights, and regional crime strategies. Lipscomb aims to address rising crime rates and improve the prosecution system, focusing on victims’ safety and community partnerships.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Run the Maryland crab cake tour next week in Catonsville as promoted on the show (host the event and appearances)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Provide Maryland Lottery scratch-offs as giveaways during the Maryland crab cake tour in Catonsville next week
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Remind listeners to register and vote and mark June 23 as an election day (public voter-registration and turnout reminder)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attempt to schedule Brian Frosh as a guest on the show (outreach to invite guest)

Introduction and Context Setting

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Maryland crab cake tour and the Maryland lottery sponsors.
• Nestor talks about his lifestyle changes and mentions previous guests, including Sarah David and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.
• Nestor emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and his role as a citizen and FCC owner in promoting community improvement.
• Nestor welcomes Lauren Lipscomb, a Democrat running for Baltimore County State’s Attorney, and acknowledges her work as a prosecutor.

Discussion on Baltimore County State’s Attorney Role

• Nestor notes the lack of change in Baltimore County State’s Attorneys since 1976 and expresses surprise.
• Lauren Lipscomb agrees, stating that the criminal justice system can become stale with the same leadership over time.
• Lauren mentions the historical scandal involving former State’s Attorney Sam Green and the potential impact on the county’s stability.
• Nestor shares his personal history with politics, including campaigning for John Cooligan and his father’s political involvement.

Lauren Lipscomb’s Motivation and Background

• Lauren explains her motivation to run for State’s Attorney, citing the 2022 election as a pivotal moment.
• She highlights her extensive experience as a veteran criminal prosecutor in Baltimore City and her deep roots in Baltimore County.
• Lauren shares her family’s history in Columbia, Maryland, and her husband’s family’s long-standing presence in Baltimore County.
• Nestor and Lauren discuss their shared interest in sports, particularly the Ravens and the Colts leaving Baltimore.

Challenges in the Criminal Justice System

• Nestor and Lauren discuss the politicization of the courts and the challenges in understanding the judicial system.
• Lauren emphasizes the importance of accountability and the need for watchdogs in government.
• She criticizes the perceived lack of options for voters and the fatigue it creates.
• Lauren stresses the importance of experience and leadership in the role of State’s Attorney, comparing it to managing a large organization like a hospital.

Lauren’s Vision for Baltimore County

• Lauren outlines her vision for the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, emphasizing the need for a fighter, manager, and leader.
• She highlights the significant number of criminal incidents in Baltimore County and the importance of having a capable prosecutor.
• Lauren criticizes the current State’s Attorney for being asleep at the wheel and not addressing community concerns.
• She discusses the importance of community engagement and the need for a regional approach to fighting crime.

Experience and Qualifications

• Lauren explains her extensive experience in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, working under four different state attorneys.
• She emphasizes her ability to handle day-to-day cases and her deep understanding of criminal prosecution.
• Lauren draws parallels between her experience and the medical field, stressing the importance of expertise in prosecution.
• She criticizes the lack of experience in some candidates and the potential risks to public safety.

Community Engagement and Victims’ Rights

• Lauren discusses the importance of community engagement and the need for a formal community engagement operation within the State’s Attorney’s Office.
• She criticizes the current State’s Attorney for not being engaged enough with the community.
• Lauren emphasizes the importance of victims’ rights and the need for the State’s Attorney’s Office to be a partner and guide for victims.
• She shares her personal commitment to ensuring the safety of Baltimore County residents and addressing community concerns.

Conclusion and Call to Action

• Nestor wraps up the conversation, emphasizing the importance of getting people registered to vote and participating in the democratic process.
• Lauren reiterates her commitment to a new approach and her extensive experience in criminal prosecution.
• She encourages voters to support her campaign for a safer and more engaged Baltimore County.
• Nestor thanks Lauren for her time and wishes her success in her campaign, highlighting the importance of civic engagement and community improvement.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Baltimore County State’s Attorney, Lauren Lipscomb, criminal justice system, community engagement, crime regional approach, prosecution experience, victim rights, Baltimore City, criminal incidents, community safety, election 2022, criminal prosecution, public servant, mission-focused prosecutor, crime dynamics.

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SPEAKERS

Speaker 1, Lauren Lipscomb, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W N, S T am 1570 towel, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively, taking the Maryland crab cake tour back out for the Memorial Day holiday. We’re going to be in Catonsville. Gonna be rocking my very first faith lease crab cake in the county. I’m going to be over in Catonsville, and the where life is great in the 21228, we will have the Maryland treasure scratch offs to give away. Feels like a little piece of boardwalk here. Or maybe we can just cross the Bay Bridge, and then we could go through Blackwater to get to the boardwalk, and I don’t know, see the horses once we get there. So all that’s brought to you by the Maryland lottery as including our friends at Farnan and Durham, are the comfort people. As it gets to be 92 on Tuesday, you will need your comfort people, 410, 367777, and of course, GBMC keeping me alive and well, you can tell my doctor that I’m making the lifestyle changes necessary. I’ve passed on French fries twice this week, but I’m going to Vegas and I’m going to eat pizza. We are doing lots of political conversations. I had Sarah David on last week. Was running for Baltimore County State’s Attorney. I had Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates on, I’ve been tracking him down for about nine months now. I saw him at fayley’s. And Lauren Lipscomb is also Democrat, running for Baltimore County State’s Attorney, and I think it becomes alphabet soup, and I’m always trying to school as rock everyone out there about all this seventh grade civic stuff that when Mr. Schlee was teaching us, or when Miss Simpkins was teaching me about Manifest Destiny over at holliberg, then Junior High in East Baltimore County that I took it all to heart, and I am doing my good part as a citizen and FCC owner to try to talk to people around here about how we make our county or city, our region, our community, better. That’s really at the heart of a Baltimore positive is including bitching about the Orioles and ravens when necessary. Learn. A pleasure to have you on I know you’re a barrister here in Baltimore, it says prosecutor Lipscomb. So I know you, know you’re coming from the side of you want to put the bad guys away. And I, I always tip my cap to everybody that does the important work that you do every day. So Oh, and also the whole Teddy Roosevelt thing about getting in and being a part of, like, the whole process, anyone who’s a candidate is welcome here to come on and talk about making the county better. So Good day to you. How are you

Lauren Lipscomb  02:26

good? Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Nestor Aparicio  02:29

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Well, I’ve been up on the website, and I see that you stepped forward here as political candidate, into a role where and I talked to Sarah David, another one of the folks couple weeks ago, at Pete shots, told me we’ve only had two Baltimore County State’s Attorneys since like 1976 you know, I was born in the city, right over the line. It’s at now church home hospital. But I mean, I was raised in Baltimore County, educated in Baltimore County, went to Baltimore County before they called it bbcc. It was Dundalk community college I went to, and I own property live vote. I’m all that in Baltimore County, I was kind of shocked to hear that, you know, like that, we have not had a whole lot of change in the legislative, excuse me, the the the judicial side of things in our county and on 50 years. That’s crazy.

Lauren Lipscomb  03:22

That’s right, that’s absolutely right. It’s I would agree that it’s crazy we have and I think that what ends up happening is that the county ends up suffering because the criminal justice system really is like any other system or organization of a community of people in that there are improvements over the years, and there is the the potential for an office, a prosecution office, just like any other system, like a hospital or aviation or any other system, there’s a potential for that system to grow stale, if you have the same person at The helm year after year. And it’s interesting, actually, taking it back before Sandy O’Connor, who was elected in 1975 and was sworn in 1976 but before her, the county had actually faced quite a bit of scandal related to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. And I, I wonder, and this is only my speculation, but I wonder if the exhaustion from the scandal that had been rocking the office prior to her election is maybe perhaps part of the reason why the county just kind of sat tight for for years. You know, for several years, there was a prosecutor by the name of Sam Green who was at the helm of the Baltimore county seats Attorney’s Office in the late 60s and and all of a sudden it broke that that he had been operating the State’s Attorney’s Office basically, almost like a like a harem, where he had been objectifying women and, you know, and hiring. Who were not qualified for the job, and having them work in roles that were not were not necessarily within their skill set. And the Baltimore Sun broke that story. Look it up. It’s Sam green. If you just Google Sam green and Baltimore Sun, you’ll come across that kind of splashy, splashy rainbow

Nestor Aparicio  05:22

County, you know, begat Agnew went right to the White House. And so, like, you know, childhood here, I mean, I had to pay attention to politics because, like, my dad paid attention to it. And, yeah, and I think that’s where we all come at it honest. The late great TED venetoulis, who was great friends with my friends at Costas, in the Greek community. I campaigned for John cool a hand when I was seven years old. And that can’t and literally in that election with my dad, because my dad supported John cooligan, Lion of Hale Thorpe. So I, you know, we had a sign out on the lawn when I was a little boy. We were that, you know, my dad on election day, you know, we were out pamphleting and doing the things. Now, I almost became a political candidate to door knock. So I say, I don’t door knock. I sort of do what I do here, which is ask people, and I guess at the root of this, you’re a lifelong attorney, Prosecutor, what? What turned the switch? I mean, your mother, your wife. I mean, you’re busy. You got things going on. You’re not, you know, you’ve been doing this a while. What turn the switch for you to say? All right, we need change. And I’m the right person to throw my hat in the ring and be a part of

Speaker 1  06:35

this

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Lauren Lipscomb  06:35

absolutely and, and you had my boss on yesterday. And, and so I’m actually on my fourth attorney, state attorney in Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, but really taking back in terms of my experience, you are absolutely correct. I’m a I’m a veteran criminal prosecutor. I have prosecuted 1000s of cases over my tenure in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, we have an office that is about 400 employees. I currently work for State’s Attorney Ivan Bates in Baltimore City, and what I will say is that the reality of the 2022 election is what piqued my attention. I absolutely am a mission focused veteran prosecutor, mission focused prosecutor. I know how to prosecute. I live in Baltimore County. I’ve lived in Baltimore County now for probably the I would say the better part of my my life, more than half of my life at this point. My parents actually came. They’re from New York, but they settled here in Maryland, and specifically in Columbia, Maryland, because of the Jim Rouse’s dream of it being a welcoming community for people of color. And so as a black female that was, that was very important for my parents to settle in Columbia, specifically. So you were

Nestor Aparicio  07:54

sort of raised in Colombia then, and Howard County

Lauren Lipscomb  07:56

was, I was absolutely and and asking my 83 year old dad, he will tell you, it was because of Jim Rouse. It was that was not a friendly time period, as you can imagine. And so and I actually in middle school. My parents transferred me to to school up here in Baltimore County. So that was in 1985 and so at this point, I would say that again, the better part of my life has been spent, you know, coming or going from Baltimore County or living in Baltimore County. And then my husband, his family, is just down home Baltimore County. They’ve been here since the 1940s operated a chain of grocery stores across Baltimore County, as well as a chain of car washes. His grandfather was the founding member of Bonnie view Country Club, his late grandfather, and that was a country club that was specifically designed to combat to offer a welcoming place for country clubs that were historically discriminatory. So at any rate, so that’s just kind of a little bit about my background in terms of just on the personal side,

Nestor Aparicio  09:05

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in the city for a long time, right?

Lauren Lipscomb  09:07

I have, I have, but before I move on to that, I will say my husband is an avid Ravens fan, and so I’m going to have to mention that he and I’m not sure how much of this is true, Nestor, okay, but he says, he claims that he was watching on Reisterstown Road as the Ravens removed out of town.

Nestor Aparicio  09:32

It was a snowy night, as I remember March

Lauren Lipscomb  09:34

28

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Nestor Aparicio  09:35

1984 Yes,

Lauren Lipscomb  09:37

snowy night. And I say to him, you are too young for your parents to allow you to be standing on rice and that road,

Nestor Aparicio  09:43

you know, saw my dad cry twice in his life, and it was one. One time was that morning when the Colts left Baltimore 1984 so by the way, the Ravens opened the season against the Indianapolis Colts in September. Lauren Lipscomb is our guest. She is a candidate for State’s Attorney in Baltimore. County. I always say County, because I’m from the county, but County and as I do these political pieces, I add Robbie Leonard on. I’ve had Robbie on many times lately as the DNC rep here and talking about fixing the party against fascism. And I spoke to Ivan Bates briefly about Trumpism and where all that is, I have come to the grand conclusion that our citizenship has no idea what’s going on with the courts or how to interpret anything that’s way above my pay grade in in regard to readings, in regard to who these people in the Supreme Court are and who made the rules to make them literally unaccountable. When you have a job for life and no one can fire you, you are unaccountable. It’s crazy. So where to find the resource in democracy to go after it start there, especially when you can win over checks and balances. So there have been a lot of things here about Schoolhouse Rock and the things that Mr. Schley taught me in seventh grade about civics, and Mr. Moeller taught me. Don Moeller taught me as my crazy uncle and guidance counselor and 42 year friendship that when I talk to real lawyers, I don’t know what’s happening here and and I know you’re down in the weeds and prosecuting in the city and doing all these things, but I think people that went to law school and studied this ish are having a hard time Understanding what’s happening foundationally with the country and how politicized our courts have become,

Lauren Lipscomb  11:45

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right? And what I will say is that that is something that permeates, I think that permeates all levels of all levels of government. It is incredibly important to have Watchdogs. It’s incredibly important to make sure that there is accountability. And it starts with, I think, that there’s a little bit of fatigue amongst the amongst voters. And the fatigue, I think, is driven by the lack of by their their perceived lack of options related to candidates to vote for, whether that’s true or not, but at least it’s perceived that there are a lack of options. And you know, kind of circling back to the question that you, that you posed minutes ago, in terms of why I’m throwing my name in that race. That’s why, because I do feel as though it is important to go ahead and not just talk about it, but go ahead and do something. You’re right. I am a veteran prosecutor. I know what I’m doing. The stop the top prosecutor of Baltimore County, State’s Attorney role is not a bake sale job that is not a job that you hire and fire people according to how nice they are. You want a fighter. You want a person who understands how to prosecute. You want to understand a person who understands how to manage and you want a person who understands how to lead. Those are the three ingredients. You go to GBMC, you go to Hopkins, you go to any hospital system. You look at the bio of their CEO, you’re going to find that those CEOs boast those three ingredients. The reason why that matters the prosecution off the State’s Attorney’s Office is an agency this Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office has 140 staff members. Last year in Baltimore County, there were over 50,000 criminal incidents. All you have to do is go to the Baltimore County Police Department’s website. Go to the, excuse me, the dashboard, the dashboard. Go to their dashboard between January 1, 2025, and December 31 2025,

Nestor Aparicio  13:49

50,000 crimes,

Lauren Lipscomb  13:50

over 50,000

Nestor Aparicio  13:52

140 prosecutors Correct.

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Lauren Lipscomb  13:54

That’s right, that’s right. And so this job is not a job. It’s not about visions and political world word salad. And this is something I want to do for my resume. You want a fighter? You want someone who understands crime, because the state prosecutor’s office does not prosecute street crime that has nothing to do with carjackings, murders, thefts, school violence. I am. The more I go through this campaign, I have become increasingly upset. And the reason why I’ve become increasingly upset is because our community is suffering. We need a state’s attorney who is awake and who understands the changing dynamics of crime in the Baltimore region. And if anyone thinks that being a city prosecutor doesn’t, doesn’t prepare you for running the County State’s Attorney’s Office. They are dead wrong. The reason they are wrong is because you cannot talk about crime in Baltimore without talking about Baltimore City. You cannot, and if you do, you’re not understanding crime. Crime is regional and partnership. And collaboration between regional state attorneys, regional police departments, as well as jurisdictional levels that is key, that is critical. And my experience, not only of being a city prosecutor, and I’ve been in administration and I’ve been a manager for the better part of the last 10 years, there’s a reason why I’ve survived four state attorneys in the Baltimore City State Attorney’s Office. I know what I’m doing. I understand crime. I understand how to prosecute, I understand how to lead. I understand how to manage. That does not mean that things in an agency are going to go perfectly. You know, day to day, however, what I will do is I will always try my best. I will always be primarily focused with the victims of crime, and I will be concerned about the safety of our community. That will be my day to day. You’re right. I’m a mother. I’ve got two boys, I’ve got a teenager, I’ve got an 11 year old. I am concerned about their safety. I’m concerned about the personal safety of everyone in Baltimore County, we have a state’s attorney right now that is asleep at the wheel. I have nothing negative to say, but is asleep at the wheel. I see signs. So do voters. That’s why we had in 2022 an election that got as close as 2000 votes. Voters see the same thing. There’s there are allegations of weaponizing the State’s Attorney’s Office and the the police department against citizens, that’s unacceptable. But then there are issues that citizens wouldn’t necessarily see in terms of crime creeping up perceived an actual crime that needs to be addressed. You need strategies, and it needs to be those strategies need to be congruent with present day prosecution techniques on the same token those prosecution we need to be tough but fair. I created the conviction integrity program in the Baltimore City. I have led and factually exonerated 14 men who were convicted of murders that they did not commit. I did. 14 men have been released from prison after I made a determination that they were factually exonerated, that’s being fair. You can be tough and fair. They are not separate. You can be tough and fair. It is inappropriate to weaponize the criminal justice system, but you need to be held accountable if you victimize members of our community. What we have right now is we’ve got to move from asleep at the wheel, but we cannot afford amateur hour. We cannot, we cannot. Less than one year of criminal prosecution experience will not cut it. That is going to absolutely put the citizens of Baltimore County at risk the end, and I cannot stand by. I watched a little girl Her head was being kicked in at the bus stop in Dumbarton a couple weeks back. Those are the kinds of things that I can’t unsee as a prosecutor, because I’m a mission focused prosecutor. My heart breaks for that little girl’s mother. The families I am hearing now from parents all over Towson are reaching out to me, I’m a city prosecutor, are reaching out to me for help on how to handle the violence in these schools.

Nestor Aparicio  18:16

So school violence is one thing, by the way. Lauren lips comes here, if you’re listening. She is a candidate for State’s Attorney in Baltimore County. Now, Scott Shellenberger has been in that seat for a long time. The notion that the county and the city from a policing standpoint, from a crime standpoint, not necessarily from taxes or schools or the things that might be separate, but it would seem to me that if I can get away with the crime over there, I’m going to go over there and commit the crime there’s a little that’s how, as a citizen, I’m interpreting what you’re saying. Look, man, there’s fear mongering. You’re a Democrat. There’s plenty of fear mongering on the other side of the aisle and Fox 45 and, you know, I’m Balti, I’m Baltimore positive, Towson, Baltimore. My radio stations at Towson rate, we used to be w, T, O, W, for crying out loud. So I’m a county business, and when people bag on Towson or Dundalk or Catonsville, I think it affects all of us. And White Marsh is included in that. And, you know, killing the red line years ago, these things that happened that that would link the county in the city together, and I live in the county, I’m not going back to Camden Yards anymore. I’m not going to a concert downtown, or I’m not going to the harbor. That whole us against them, part of city and county has been something at the heart of me being a city resident for 19 years, but being sort of a county guy and a county business owner for 35 years now that I’ve never understood that, but as you run as county. Citizen, city prosecutor for a county role. What is it about what you’re seeing you say, asleep at the wheel. I’m just in a general sense, that little girl getting her head kicked in. You’re feeling like the people that did that aren’t going to pay or are not going to serve justice for that, that that is your biggest concern.

Lauren Lipscomb  20:22

Well, what I will say is that there are strategies related to how to handle situations like that. You’ve got, not only the juvenile justice system, which is, has got, I think, very, very well publicized, well publicized issues that are very complex and will take multiple stakeholders coming to the table to grapple with how to improve the juvenile justice system that is not one person. That is an entire system. Not one person can change that entire system. So what I am concerned about, I’m concerned about community engagement in Baltimore County. One of the things that is really apparent to me in the aftermath of that situation is that there is a missing piece of community engagement between the State’s Attorney’s Office and the community that we serve. And I’m a government I’m a public servant, even though I work in the city the entire community. I serve the entire community. Our cases bleed over. There are so many overlap cases, but and when I what I mean by that is we have cases in the city, somebody goes out and commits a carjacking. Let’s say in the city, they could be on county probation, Baltimore county probation, or they go out to Baltimore County and commit a carjacking. They could be on city probation, the rap sheets, the rap sheets of criminal activity, the criminal offenders, those go across county lines, the end, the end, and you’re right, this kind of us against them. We gotta get away from that. We have got to get away from that. We have to have a regional approach to fighting crime, a regional approach because there is no criminal, I like to say, people who choose to commit crimes. There is no person who’s choosing to commit crimes that is going to stop their carjacking that they’re in the middle of at the county line. That’s not happening. It’s just not happening. There’s no paying attention to those kinds of boundaries in terms of criminal activity. And so it is very important for there to be a regional approach, but kind of circling all the way back to your question about whether or not those individuals would be held accountable. Well, it’s a bit in the news that there are individuals who have begun to be held accountable by being charged, and that is fine. That is a step in the right direction. However, if I am being reached out to by community members, related to what is bubbling below the surface, which is a an avoidance of listening to parents who have been warning that something like that was going to happen. If we have a culture where we’re ignoring warnings about the safety of a child at school, we’ve got to fix it. And so community engagement is a weak area that I’m seeing State’s Attorney Bates our office in the city that is a strong area community engagement. Our office is out in the community all the time. We need to be engaged. It is not good enough for the state’s attorney to do a vanity tour around Baltimore County simply to take pictures of oneself standing with community members. That seems to be a thing in Baltimore County that’s not good enough. Engaging with the community means that you have a commune, a formal community engagement operation within the State’s Attorney’s Office, where you regularly go out and interface with the community and learn what the concerns are, learn what the issues are, so that you can be a partner in combating those issues. Not all solutions involve incarceration. Not all solutions involve incarceration. I’m a tough prosecutor. I’m going to hold you accountable, but if there are ways for me to keep you out of the system, I’m going to do that. Because that’s I’m I’m more than happy to be put out of a job. That’d be fine. That would be great. But community engagement, I see as a weak area within community engagement would be victims rights. Victims Rights when you are when you have families that are impacted by violent crime. It is essential that the State’s Attorney’s Office. Be a partner and a guide through the criminal justice system. It is just essential, and that is from the beginning of the contact

Nestor Aparicio  25:11

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well, you get robbed. You’ve already been a victim. Now you’re you’re now involved in all the red tape. It’s kind of like when you get your car and it, you know, somebody hits you, your car still going to the shop. You still need a rental car. You still need a doctor, like all of those things that, you know we feel. But to be a victim of crime, to be car jacked and then to feel like the cops aren’t helping. The police aren’t helping you. Know they’re I’m not going to get justice. Who did this to me? Why are they on the street? What was their record? How did they get let out of jail the first time? How old are they the kids? 16. They’re not going to do anything to him. Where are his parents? Like that? Just that’s just the outrage that citizen Nestor has to make you a candidate, I would say you say you know how to prosecute. That’s you said that a couple of times, and it’s obviously a big part of your your your candidacy in Baltimore County. What does that mean? Like, bring me in on that over a cup of coffee, you know how to prosecute. And it feels like you feel like somebody in Baltimore County doing your job might be letting someone that commits that crime against me, my wife, my son, my daughter in law, all Baltimore County residents that they’re going to get away with it because something’s going to go wrong in the prosecutor prosecutorial process.

Lauren Lipscomb  26:34

Right, exactly. And so I like to use the I like to because I’m a, I’m a, I’m a trial attorney. I’m a prosecutor, which means that I’ve tried dozens, dozens of jury trials, but I’ve tried hundreds of bench trials, and we’re in the 1000s when we’re talking about litigating hearings. What that means is, day to day, I can pick up a case. I’ve just handled a couple of cases. You know, even though I’m a supervisor, by the time you get up to the administration and supervisory role you handle day to day cases less and less. Does that make sense? Sure, just because you’re more in management, you’re more administrative, you’re you know, like getting the trains running on time, that kind of a thing behind the scenes. However, the ability to actually do things like I can answer the phone at the State’s Attorney’s Office. I can do that. If I’m passing by the receptions, the receptionist desk, I can answer the phone, and I know exactly where to send somebody being able to actually do the day to day operations. I can pick up a case, walk into court. I can try that case, no problem. I know most of the elements of each crime off the top of my head. I know most of the the maximum sentences. Off the top of my head, I know how to calculate guidelines. I know how to prosecute a carjacking case. I know how to prosecute a homicide case. I know how to prosecute an attempted murder case. I know how to prosecute. What that means is I know how to from investigation to charging, to trying the case, to post trial. I can do whatever you’ve got. You can throw whatever you’ve got at me. I personally can do it. That’s my experience level. What I like to do is I like to draw parallels to the medical field. So we all hate cancer. We all wish cancer would go away. I certainly do. I mean, no one wants to lose anyone to cancer. It does not work for me to say I hate cancer so much that means I should be an oncologist tomorrow, that I need to go weigh in on an oncology plan, or I need to run an oncology department. I can hate cancer all I want, but that doesn’t make me the best qualified person to treat a cancer patient, nor to run an oncology department. I’m not going to run a cancer department, right? I don’t have the skill set. That’s what. There’s no difference when you’re talking about prosecution. So when when you look at even the races across the state, you’re going to hear more and more and more about experience, because this is not a straight politician job. This is not like running for county council. It’s not like running for county executive, where it’s just kind of this amorphous politician job. That’s not it. You’re electing someone to run an agency of people that is tasked with prosecuting crime, that is tasked with prosecuting crime. State prosecutor’s office has 10 people. Baltimore County, State’s Attorney’s Office has 140 you need to know what on earth you’re doing. You also need to make sure that not only do you know what you’re doing, that your chops, your experience level, your expertise, is enough to ensure the stability of that office, because if you don’t have a stable prosecution office, if you don’t have a stable leader, those experienced prosecutors are going to leave the office. They’re not going to work for someone without experience. What does that happen to Grandma going to Trader Joe’s and. Whether or not she gets car jacked, right? The police make the arrest. We come in. We’re the ones that got it. We’ve got to charge them. We’ve got to figure out whether or not we can charge them. We got to know what we’re doing. Well, you need confidence in that top prosecutor. You need confidence in the Baltimore County State’s Attorney, the top prosecutor, because that impacts internally, the morale in the level of experience and expertise that you’re going to have working for you. And if you don’t have experienced prosecutors working for you, guess what? You’re going to have a rising crime rate. It’s going to happen.

Nestor Aparicio  30:42

How long have you worked in the city? By the way, Lauren lipscomb’s Here, you said you’ve worked through several states attorneys in the city for so that would be Mosby, correct, like through the whole era of all of that. Correct?

Lauren Lipscomb  30:54

Yep. So I was hired by Patricia jessamy.

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Nestor Aparicio  30:57

Wow.

Lauren Lipscomb  30:58

I know. Yes, I was yes, I started as a law clerk back in 2003 I was sworn as an ASA. Once I passed the bar in 2005 I passed the bar in 2004 and then I sworn it. Was sworn in as an ASA in 2005 and yes, I worked under Patricia jessamy. Worked my way up and and I actually have left the office twice, but they have dragged me back in. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  31:27

you’re trying to drag yourself into politics now. Laurel Lipson is our guest here, so just to wrap things up with you, and obviously you win the primary, just the importance of getting people registered to vote, to get out and vote, the guy who’s running the country is a fascist and a racist who doesn’t want you to vote and wants to take rights away from women, for people of color, so on and on and on. I can go through that, but it feels to me like your level of experience, you throw your hat in the ring in the county, being a city person, having worked through all of this, you know, clearly your passion jumps through at what you’re doing. What does the county lack at this point to just wrap a bow on this? If someone votes for you, why would you vote for you?

Lauren Lipscomb  32:15

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Because you’re getting a new approach, and you’re getting experience, your public your personal safety is not going to be put at risk this time, last time in 2022 I understand Baltimore County voters were a little apprehensive. They are ready. I’m ready. I’m a super voter. I’m ready. Ready for a new approach, but we cannot sacrifice experience, and so we need new strategies. We need to catch up with present times on the same token, we’ve got to be fair. Voting for Lauren Lipscomb means that you are getting an experienced prosecutor who’s going to put victims first, our community first, and we are going to get things under control in Baltimore County. Www dot Prosecutor lipscomb.com

Nestor Aparicio  33:04

Prosecutor lipscomb.com I want to let you get back because like you’re doing really important work. I don’t want you like you’re holding the bad guys accountable in Baltimore City right now. So keep up the good work. I do appreciate a you doing that work as someone who’s been a juror on some things in Baltimore City over my course of time and living in the city as well as, and I do mean this when people reach out to me. Have a few county council people that want to come on or whatever, I did sports radio and gummed up Angelos and bishati and the modals and all of that for all those years. And I during covid, you know, I came to the real since very, very clear, clear clarity that keeping business and keeping the trains running on time and who’s running our government is a big, big part of what we do here, certainly for being a city resident for a long time as well, in regard to my real estate, in regard to living at the harbor. So we’re all in it together. And I congratulate you and every other candidate on both sides of the ticket, Democrat, Republican, Independent, wherever you are, for throwing your hat in the ring, because I think it’s very admirable at this point in American democracy to to get involved. So I commend you.

Lauren Lipscomb  34:12

Thank you so much for having me. This was great. I loved spending my morning here with you.

Nestor Aparicio  34:17

Go back to work and put the bad guys

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Lauren Lipscomb  34:19

in jail.

Nestor Aparicio  34:20

Lauren Lipscomb is a citizen of Baltimore County and a a Baltimore City prosecutor. We had Ivan Bates on too. You can hear that if you want to hear Sarah David, you can hear that if you want to hear any my old chats. I’m trying to get our Brian frosh has been on with me recently. So, yeah, so you know, I’m trying to put people on to talk about this because of what I’m seeing with the courts, what I’m seeing with the Supreme Court job for life. Who didn’t see a problem with that anyway, we’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour next week in Catonsville. Life is great in the 21228, it is at the fishmonger’s daughter. It is the new joint that the faintly family owns and runs. I had them on Nancy. See and Damion last week from Fay Lee’s down at Lexington market. Luke’s running around with the Raven schedule. The Orioles are running around Tampa as well as trying to get home. Next week, we will have our scratch offs in the Maryland lottery, as well as support from our friends at GBMC and the comfort guys at Farnan and Dermer. I am Nestor. We are wnsd. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive and politics, and get yourself registered and voting. So make sure you do that. June 23 mark it down. Be a part of the American process. It’s important

Speaker 1  35:34

you.