TV Judge Lauren Lake used to argue in courtrooms against prosecutors as a criminal defense attorney, but today, she’s calling on voters everywhere to give former prosecutor Vice President Kamala Harris a shot.
Lake, who hosts “Paternity Matters” and “We The People” (produced by theGrio’s parent company Allen Media Group), says in the era of Donald Trump and Supreme Court rulings protecting presidents from criminal prosecution, voters shouldn’t dismiss Harris because she once worked in a flawed justice system.
“As a former criminal defense attorney, I have seen firsthand, the work of overzealous DAs and a corrupt court system,” Lake told theGrio in an exclusive interview. “I have also worked with prosecutors who are firm, fair and operate with integrity.”
“Strong advocacy is required on both sides to make our justice system run correctly. It’s time to give Kamala Harris the opportunity to run this country with the same fervent approach as she exhibited as a prosecutor,” she continued.
Lake, 55, is a native of Detroit and an Emmy Award-winning TV judge who previously worked in the entertainment industry and practiced law around both civil and criminal issues, chose to be a defense attorney to help those facing persecution from a flawed system.
“Black people have historically had a very treacherous relationship with police,” Lake told theGrio. “Rightfully so, considering police departments were originally created to capture the enslaved who ran for freedom, away from bondage.”
“This has a direct connection to a justice system that far too often convicts innocent Black people of crimes they didn’t commit, incarcerates Black men at higher rates… imposes longer sentences on Black people and is often feared by our people instead of looked upon as an institution of fairness, law and order,” she continued.
A new Kamala Harris-sponsored TV ad titled “Fearless” has just hit the airwaves, seeking to highlight Harris’ record as a prosecutor as a positive asset.
The VP has said that her reason for becoming a prosecutor stemmed from when she was a teen and Harris’ best friend was being sexually assaulted by her own stepfather. Harris went on to UC Law San Francisco, became a deputy district attorney, and made history as the first district attorney of color in San Francisco, and later the first Black and South Asian attorney general of California.
During her time as a DA, she opposed the death penalty, which strained her relationship with local police in the wake of the fatal shooting of a police officer, according to an analysis by The Marshall Project. She created the “Back on Track” diversion program for young adults aged 18-30 who were first-time, nonviolent drug offenders to have their records cleaned after completing training. She went after banks that exploited lenders and contributed to the nation’s mortgage crisis in 2009. She also opposed the legalization of marijuana in 2010, but by the time she became a senator and vice president, her stances softened and she supported decriminalization.
“Times have changed — marijuana should not be a crime,” Harris is quoted as saying after introducing legislation to decriminalize marijuana and clear records for those convicted at a federal level.
These sorts of shifts in policy are the kinds Lake says voters should be mindful of as they make decisions about their presidential candidate of choice.
“As a people, we must study her record, ask necessary questions, make our demands and then hold her accountable to her promises,” Lake tells theGrio.
The accountability piece is one that will be harder to achieve if America’s next president shuts down protest. Lake also expressed concern about the recent Supreme Court ruling that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was immune from criminal prosecution for anything he did as president — including inciting riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Our democracy is slowly slipping away, and we have to understand that all these rulings affect us in such huge ways,” Lake tells theGrio. “And if he gets himself back into office, if Trump gets back into office, we will see far more of this. This means that so much of what our ancestors had fought for — bled, died, have been jailed, what we’ve worked for — will be undone quickly. This is very real.”
“As Americans, we’ve gotta get out of our phones. Look, and I’m good for good TikTok dance, okay? I love to have fun, but we have to also get our mind into the issues and our mind on what matters most… that is preserving democracy. Undoing that democracy is really the undoing of our rights and our liberties and [the] equality associated with it. We can’t let that happen.”