Midday

Pride parades took place throughout the country over the weekend, including in Baltimore.

Local leaders who attended the Baltimore event included Gov. Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott. Scott marked the occasion by signing a bill protecting LGBTQ+ individuals regardless of HIV or AIDS status, other characteristics or association with people who have those characteristics and status. The bill also prohibits the use of incorrect pronouns for people in employment, education, housing and other settings.

The Baltimore ordinance stands in stark contrast to laws that are being introduced and passed across the country that restrict, rather than protect, the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Today on the show, a survey of legislation in Maryland and around the country that is targeted towards transgender citizens. Midday's guests include Dr. Devon Ojeda of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

But first, Tom is joined by long-time advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, Sen. Mary Washington. She represents District 43 in the General Assembly, which includes parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

Margo Quinlan and Jamie Grace Alexander, organizers with the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition in Baltimore, join our panel, as well.

(Photo by Ted Eytan, license CC BY-SA 2.0)

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today is the last scheduled conference day for the U.S. Supreme Court this term. The court and its justices have been in the news a lot lately. A number of recent controversial decisions is drawing the public's ire. Additionally, a flood of ethics questions that have been raised concerning Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Midday's guest is veteran court watcher and author Michael Waldman. He is the President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, and the author of a compelling and provocative book about the outsized role the court has come to play in American democracy. He begins the book with a reminder that a year ago, over the course of just three days in June of 2022, the conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade, radically loosened restrictions on guns and hobbled the ability of government agencies to protect public health.

Did the framers envision that the nation's highest court would hold the position of power it does in American society and our governance? Of all the threats to democracy we have witnessed in the last few years, should the court itself be considered a threat? Waldman answers, “Yes.”

The book is called The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America. Waldman joins Tom on Zoom from New York.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

When he was running for office last year, attorney Ivan Bates pledged that if elected, he would rescind the policy of then States Attorney Marilyn Mosby regarding the prosecution of low level crimes. Mosby announced her office would not prosecute a specific list of so called “quality of life” crimes during the COVID outbreak, but continued that policy when many COVID restrictions were lifted.

Now, Ivan Bates is the State's Attorney for Baltimore City, and he has reinstated the pre-COVID policy, with some significant changes. As of 10 days ago, Baltimore police began issuing citations for so called “quality of life crimes,” a departure from the previous policy of the State’s Attorney and police. Citations for crimes like riding a dirt bike, public drunkenness, loitering, aggressive panhandling, trespassing and malicious destruction of property will now be handled on a special docket that is intended to offer those who are cited an alternative to prosecution and jail time.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It is time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of the mid-Atlantic regional stage.

“The World Goes ’Round” is a musical revue, a collection of songs. It isn’t a new show, but this production has made some changes. The ArtsCentric production of The World Goes ‘Round is at the Everyman Theater in Baltimore until July 2.

(Photo by Teresa Castracane)

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today we’re talking about problems and potential at Maryland’s prisons. The Goucher Prison Education Partnership was formed in 2012 to bring Goucher College instructors into correctional facilities to teach the same liberal arts classes they offer on Goucher’s Towson campus.

Back in 2014, Tom spent the day at the MD Correctional Institution for Women, and the Jessup Correctional Institution for Men, observing classes and speaking with faculty, staff and students in the program.

Eliza Cornejo joined Tom. She began working with the Goucher Prison Education Partnership as a tutor back in 2014 when she was a student at Goucher. She is now the Executive Director of GPEP.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Every two years, the Division of Corrections and the union that represents staff at Maryland prisons are required by law to issue a report that assesses the staffing needs of the state’s 19 correctional facilities. The 2023 report was issued in April, and it found that staff vacancies in prisons are at an all-time high, and that more than 3,400 positions need to be filled.

The President of AFSCME Maryland Council 3, Patrick Moran, joined Tom. AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is the union that represents prison guards and correctional staff, as well as tens of thousands of other state employees.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

A couple of weeks ago, during her monthly appearance on our show for the Midday Healthwatch, Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore City Health Commissioner, discussed an essay she published in the Washington Post about the health effects of cannabis. The essay garnered more than 5,000 responses in the Post, and when we talked about it here on Midday, lots of listeners called and e-mailed us to weigh-in as well.

In less than two weeks, Maryland is set to join nearly 40 other states allowing the recreational use of marijuana. What will the public health impacts be?Research has established medical benefits for cancer patients, and people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. But experts also point to cannabis as a factor in schizophrenia, respiratory problems, and low birth weight.

My guests are Dr. Leigh Vinocur and Dr. David Jernigan.

Dr. Leigh Vinocur is a board certified emergency physician, who holds a master’s degree in cannabis science and therapeutics from a relatively new program at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Dr. David Jernigan is a Professor of Health Law, Policy & Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. He’s also an adjunct professor in the Health, Behavior and Society department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has researched the issue of alcohol advertising, marketing, and promotion, and he’s a co-author of Cannabis: Moving Forward, Protecting Health.

(Photo by gjbmiller, via Canva)

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

On this Juneteenth edition of Midday, we also take a look at the future of Black culture and history. Tom's guests are Terri Lee Freeman, the director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of MD African American History and Culture, and Myrtis Bedolla, the owner of Galarie Myrtis here in Baltimore. Myrtis has curated an exhibition at the Lewis Museum focused on Afro Futurism. Presented in conjunction with the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University, it’s called “Afro-Futurist Manifesto: Blackness Reimagined” and is at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum until September 5. Terri Lee and Myrtis joined Tom in studio. The special slate of Juneteenth events at the Lewis continues until 4:00 this afternoon. Admission to the museum today is free. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Happy Holiday and welcome to this Juneteenth edition of Midday.  In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the measure that established this date as the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday.

Tom begins today's show on Juneteenth in a conversation about Black history's past and present with Brandi Collins-Dexter. She’s the associate director of research at the Technology and Social Change Project (TaSC) housed in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. She’s also the author of Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future. Before joining the leadership team at the Shorenstein Center, she was the Senior Campaign Director at Color of Change.

Brandi joined Tom in studio. 

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

And now, a public service to our listeners. Two local experts on books offer advice on what you might want to consider reading this summer.

Our guests actually make their living recommending books to the customers of the terrific bookstores they own and manage.

Emma Snyder is the owner of the Ivy Bookshop in north Baltimore and Bird in Hand in Charles Village.

Julia Fleischaker is the owner of Greedy Reads in Fells Point and in Remington.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.