From drafting laws to enforcing them

Democratic attorney general nominee Brian E. Frosh spent the last quarter-century seeking compromise as a state legislator. Now he seeks to change all that.

The attorney general’s job is “completely different” than legislating, said Frosh, the outgoing chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

He likened the position to that of an umpire “calling balls and strikes” but with an eye toward enforcing the law to protect the safety and health of Marylanders.

For starters, Frosh said, he would vigorously defend the 2013 Firearm Safety Act — the gun-control law he largely drafted, shepherded through committee and argued for during floor debate in the Maryland Senate.

The law’s ban on assault-style weapons, upheld this year by a federal judge in Baltimore, is being challenged on Second Amendment grounds in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The law “doesn’t infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights,” Frosh said. “People who are law-abiding citizens can get firearms.”

If necessary, he said, he will make that argument all the way up to the Supreme Court.

The banned weapons “have been used in mass murders” and are not necessary for self-defense or hunting, Frosh said.

Frosh’s full-throated support for the law differs from the positions of his Republican opponent, Jeffrey N. Pritzker, and Libertarian foe, Leo Wayne Dymowski, both gun-rights supporters.

Pritzker said he has “substantial disagreement” with the Firearm Safety Act but would be obliged to defend the state law as Maryland’s attorney general.

Dymowski said he would not defend the law in court, calling the statute plainly unconstitutional.

Frosh called Dymowski’s position extreme.

“An important part of the job of attorney general is to defend the Firearm Safety Act” and other statutes, regardless of whether you support them, Frosh said. “If you are not prepared to defend the laws passed by the General Assembly, you are not doing your job.”

In another area of disagreement with his opponents, Frosh, 68, said the duty to protect public safety also includes safeguarding the Chesapeake Bay through strict enforcement of environmental regulations.

While Pritzker, 58, and Dymowski, 65, have expressed concerns about unduly burdensome regulation, Frosh said protecting the bay is “a common responsibility.”

“We have a shared treasure and a shared burden,” he said. “Everyone has to participate in keeping it healthy.”

If elected, Frosh said, he will notify all companies by letter of their need to comply with environmental regulations — and that would be their only warning.

Companies “should expect to have the law enforced,” he added.

If state history and financial reports are any indication, it seems likely that Frosh will indeed be elected

For 60 years now, a Democrat has held the office. Frosh’s campaign bank account balance stood at $79,701.27 as of Aug. 19, the most recent filing deadline, compared to $1,287.81 for Pritzker and $80 for Dymowski.

Frosh, a 1971 Columbia Law School graduate who joined the Maryland bar in 1972, is a name partner at Karp, Frosh, Wigodsky & Norwind P.A. in Bethesda. His practice consists of business litigation and international antitrust issues.

Frosh’s legislative career began in January 1987 after his election to the House of Delegates. He was elected to the Senate in November 1994.

Pritzker and Dymowski have each campaigned against the long-held Democratic control of the General Assembly and the party’s record of success in stateside elections, saying it has led to overregulation.

Frosh, however, makes no apologies.

“I would put my experience, my accomplishments, my record against anybody,” he said. “I’m proud to be a Democrat.”

Tomorrow: Leo Wayne Dymowski, Libertarian.

BRIAN E. FROSH

Party: Democrat

Age: 68

Chairman, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee; Partner, Karp, Frosh, Wigodsky & Norwind P.A. in Bethesda

Joined Maryland Bar: Jan. 1, 1972

Alma Mater: Columbia Law School, 1971

Slogan: “I want to be the people’s lawyer.”