Ivan Bates sworn in as Baltimore state’s attorney, immediately reinstates prosecution of low-level offenses

Longtime defense lawyer Ivan Bates was sworn in Tuesday as Baltimore’s top prosecutor, pledging that the city State’s Attorney’s Office’s first new administration in eight years would reform the city’s violent crime fight. Bates, who won the Democratic primary in July and ran uncontested in November’s general election, assumes the post from Marilyn Mosby, who served two, four-year terms as state’s attorney. He distinguished himself from his predecessor with some of his first words in office, proclaiming during his inaugural address that his assistant state’s attorneys would resume prosecuting the low-level offenses Mosby stopped taking to court. Bates also touted a tough stance on illegal guns, saying he would bring in attorney reinforcements to an office battered by attrition.