The state of Maryland doesn’t have an official language, but three of its counties do. The first was Frederick County. In 2012 its commissioners adopted an ordinance requiring, “all official actions in the county must be in English.”
Now Frederick is again debating the issue, quite vigorously. During the intervening 3 years, the county has changed its form of government; instead of a five-member board of commissioners, who were all Republican, it now has a seven member County Council of four Republicans and two Democrats. Two Democrats have proposed repealing the English-only ordinance. One of them is Jessica Fitzwater, who joins host Sheilah Kast in the studio. And on the phone is Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, a Republican who is advocating for keeping the ordinance in place.
