Ivan Bates
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Ivan Jules Bates (born September 1968) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the
State's Attorney of Baltimore The state's attorney of Baltimore is the district attorney, chief prosecutor representing the state of Maryland in the independent city (United States), independent city of Baltimore. The position was established in 1851, replacing the office ...
since 2023.


Early life

Bates was adopted by his parents, Henry and Cleora, in
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
. Due to his father's service in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
, his family moved several times, including to Germany,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, and
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, before finally settling in
Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...
, where Bates attended the segregated Bethel High School, where he graduated with a 1.9 GPA. After graduating from high school, his father enlisted him in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
, where he was assigned to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command and worked as a light wheel vehicle mechanic before reaching the rank of private first class. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1988. After leaving the military, he enrolled at
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
, where he served as the second president of the Howard University Student Association before graduating with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in journalism in 1992. Afterwards, he attended the
William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School, formally the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the law school of the College of William & Mary, a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the oldest extant law school in the United States, having be ...
, where he received his
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree in 1995. While at William & Mary, he clerked for the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Although LDF ca ...
. After graduating, Bates wanted to move back to Los Angeles, California, but his mother asked him to move to Baltimore to take care of his aunt Edna.


Legal career

Bates started his legal career in Baltimore, working as a law clerk for Baltimore Circuit Court Judge David B. Mitchell. He later worked in the homicide division of the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office under state's attorney Patricia Jessamy from July 1996 to June 2002. He left to become a defense attorney for the law firm of Schulman, Treem, Kaminkow, and Ravenell, and worked on the
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case '' Maryland v. Blake''. In 2006, Bates started his own law firm of Bates & Garcia, P.C., in downtown Baltimore. He represented Baltimore Police sergeant Alicia D. White, one of six police officers charged in the arrest and
death of Freddie Gray On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African American, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department for possession of a knife. While in police custody, Gray sustained fatal injuries and was taken to the R Adams Cowley Sh ...
in April 2015, and several clients victimized by the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force, whose members in 2017 were federally indicted and convicted of
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
. In June 2019, Bates testified before the commission to Restore Trust in Policing, recommending a number of state laws to prevent corruption in Baltimore's criminal justice system.


State's Attorney of Baltimore City


Elections


2018

On August 26, 2017, Bates announced his candidacy for state's attorney of Baltimore, challenging incumbent state's attorney
Marilyn Mosby Marilyn Mosby (née James; born January 22, 1980) is a former American politician and lawyer who served as the State's Attorney of Baltimore from 2015 to 2023. She was the youngest state prosecutor for any major city in the United States. Mosby ...
. He ran on a platform of supporting
community policing Community policing is a philosophy and organizational strategy whereby law enforcement cooperates with community groups and citizens in producing safety and security. The theory underlying community policing is that it makes citizens more likely t ...
and curbing
gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...
. During the campaign, Kristien Miller, a supporter of
Thiruvendran Vignarajah Thiruvendran "Thiru" Vignarajah (born December 18, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician. He previously was Deputy Attorney General of Maryland. He is a litigation partner at the law firm DLA Piper in Baltimore. He has also been the lead at ...
, filed a lawsuit against Bates alleging that he was not qualified to run for state's attorney. In March 2018, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill ruled that Bates had lived in the city since 2016 and was qualified to run for state's attorney. In May 2018, Bates released a campaign ad in which he claimed that he had "never lost a murder case". He came under fire for this claim, as online court records show that Bates prosecuted eight murders and dropped five of them. Bates defended his claims by providing additional court records that list him as a prosecutor in homicide cases against Lynelle Whiting and Gregory Everett in 2001 and 2002 respectively. In June, he released a list of 11 more cases he claimed as "wins", four of which had ended in convictions. He later threatened to sue the two other candidates in the race, Vignarajah and Mosby, and the ''
Baltimore Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...
'' newspaper for
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
, calling the claims made by the candidates related to his murder cases were "absolute lies". Bates was defeated in the Democratic primary on June 26, 2018, placing second behind Mosby with 28.1 percent of the vote.


2022

On November 18, 2021, Bates announced that he would again run for state's attorney, challenging incumbent state's attorney Marilyn Mosby. Bates supports improving the technology used in the state's attorney's office, including
software program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. It is one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components. A ''computer program'' in its h ...
s that would add subtitles to
police body camera In policing equipment, a police body camera or wearable camera, also known as body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera (BWC), or body camera, is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system used by police to record events in which ...
videos. He unveiled a prosecution plan in March 2022, which includes cracking down on gun violence and restarting prosecutions for nonviolent crimes such as
drug possession The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. An area has a prohibition of drugs when its government uses the for ...
, prostitution, and
trespassing Trespass to land, also called trespass to realty or trespass to real property, or sometimes simply trespass, is a common law tort or a crime that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally (or, in Australia, ...
, promising mandatory prison sentences for people convicted on gun charges. He also sought to increase collaboration with the
Baltimore Police Department The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Dating back to 1784, the BPD, consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020, is organized into nine districts covering of land and of waterw ...
to reduce violent crime. He stressed during the campaign that these policies did not mean the city would be returning to a tough-on-crime mindset that leads to mass incarceration, with many cases being funneled to diversion courts to connect people with alternative treatment services. During the primary, Bates received endorsements from ''The Baltimore Sun'', former Baltimore mayor
Sheila Dixon Sheila Ann Dixon (born December 27, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 48th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, after mayor Martin O'Malley was sworn in as governor on January 17, 2007. Dixon, then president of the Baltimore City Counci ...
, former mayoral candidate Mary J. Miller, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, state delegate Luke Clippinger, and former state's attorney Greg Bernstein. Bates defeated incumbent state's attorney Marilyn Mosby and Democratic challenger
Thiruvendran Vignarajah Thiruvendran "Thiru" Vignarajah (born December 18, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician. He previously was Deputy Attorney General of Maryland. He is a litigation partner at the law firm DLA Piper in Baltimore. He has also been the lead at ...
in the Democratic primary on July 19, 2022, receiving 40.9 percent of the vote. Bates was to face
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate Roya Hanna in the general election, but she dropped out and endorsed Bates shortly after his primary win, clearing his path to victory.


Tenure

Bates was sworn in as state's attorney on January 3, 2023. On his first day in office, he reversed Mosby's non-prosecution policy for low-level offenses like drug possession, prostitution, and trespassing. In July 2022, Bates told ''
The Baltimore Banner ''The Baltimore Banner'' is a news website in Baltimore founded by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which is a nonprofit set up by Stewart W. Bainum Jr. It launched June 14, 2022. It had a staff of 125, with about 80 working the ...
'' that he planned to drop the controversial case against Keith Davis Jr., who was scheduled for a fifth murder trial in the fatal shooting of
Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of O ...
security guard Kevin Jones in 2015. He declined to comment on the case after winning the Democratic primary, saying that " State's Attorney-elect, I am no longer a private citizen. I must be mindful of the gag order imposed to the current State's Attorney and how it would ethically apply to me". On January 13, 2023, Bates ended the State's Attorney's office's prosecution of Davis, dropping all charges against him. During the 2023 legislative session, Bates endorsed a bill to increase maximum sentences from three years to five years for people who illegally carry handguns, arguing that it would "ensure fairness under the law and serve as a deterrent". The bill was supported by all elected state's attorneys in Maryland, and opposed by the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
of Maryland, faculty of Baltimore law schools, and the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, who cited research from
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
which showed that longer sentences did not deter crime. The bill was later incorporated into the Gun Safety Bill of 2023, which was passed by the
Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...
in April, and signed into law by Governor
Wes Moore Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, businessman, author, and former U.S. Army officer serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023. Moore was born in Maryland and raised primarily in New York. ...
in May 2023. In March 2023, Bates endorsed an anti-crime package introduced by the
Maryland Republican Party The Maryland Republican Party is the Maryland state branch of the Republican Party (GOP), headquartered in Annapolis. It is the state's minority party, controlling no statewide offices, minorities in both houses of the state legislature, and 1 ...
, which included bills strengthening penalties for gun theft and repeat violent offenses. In July 2023, amid a mass shooting in Baltimore that killed two and injured 28, Bates released a statement expressing his condolences and calling for gun control and policies targeting repeat violent offenders. During the 2024 legislative session, Bates supported legislation to extend probationary periods for gun crimes committed by juveniles, limit the Child Interrogation Protection Act, and allow state's attorneys to file a motion to modify an incarcerated individual's sentence "at any time". In May 2018, Bates told the ''
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'' that he would drop charges against Adnan Syed, the '' Serial'' podcast host who was serving life in prison for his initial conviction in the killing of Hae Min Lee in 1999. In February 2025, Bates announced that his office was withdrawing a previously filed motion to vacate Syed’s conviction. Bates however said he supported Syed's motion for a reduced sentence under the state's Juvenile Restoration Act, which provides a pathway to release for people serving long prison terms for crimes committed when they were minors. On March 6, Judge Jennifer Schiffer issued a decision that reduced Syed's sentence to time served so that the conviction would stand but that Syed would remain free.


Personal life

Bates has two daughters named Brielle and London. He lives in the Locust Point community of Baltimore. In 2021, Bates's third wife, Lana, filed for a divorce. In February 2025, he became engaged to Danielle "Dani" Gomes. They married on May 25, 2025. Hours before Bates was sworn in as State's Attorney of Baltimore, he was hospitalized and treated for dehydration. Despite this, his swearing-in went as planned.


Electoral history


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Ivan 1968 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century Maryland politicians African-American United States Army personnel Howard University alumni Living people Lawyers from Baltimore Maryland Democrats Military personnel from Maryland Politicians from El Paso, Texas Lawyers from El Paso, Texas State's attorneys in Maryland William & Mary Law School alumni 20th-century African-American lawyers Place of birth missing (living people) African American adoptees American adoptees