JUSTICE should be blind, but those who are charged with enforcing it must not be.

America's Founding Fathers knew this, and today we still understand the critical role that justice plays in maintaining our way of life. Indeed, the bedrock of our democracy relies upon justice being served and preserved regardless of race, gender, class or politics. Without this blind justice, we risk becoming a hollow society where the rule of law and reason is supplanted by the rule of imperfect men. This is the precise situation that Rhode Islanders face today, and unfortunately, faith in our justice system is at an all-time low. I want to restore that faith.

For the last 35 years, I have fought hard on behalf of Rhode Islanders in both the private and public sector to ensure government accountability and equal justice under the law.

I have been honored to have served in the administrations of President Jimmy Carter, Gov. Philip W. Noel and Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy. As a special assistant state attorney general, I fought utility-rate increases and won; while working in the White House, I helped draft a comprehensive alternative energy policy; as the first director of the Rhode Island Department of Enviromental Management, I fought to protect our environment; and as chairman of the state Public Utilities Commission, I successfully stood up to big business and brought utility rates under control while making the rate-making process more open and accessible to the general public.

Further, in private practice, I have continued to fight for the citizens of Rhode Island -- often for no fee -- against developers, political forces, big business and big government.

As a long-time citizens' lawyer, I know firsthand the challenges that everyday Rhode Islanders face, and it is the job of the attorney general to be, in fact, the people's attorney.

Unfortunately, Rhode Islanders have not had an attorney general they can rely on.

While my opponent claims a victory of "historical proportions" in the state's lead-paint case, his decision to withhold vital government statistics from the defense threatens to derail the state's case, while his backroom dealing with DuPont casts a shadow of impropriety and favoritism in his negotiations and invests millions in out-of-state institutions with little or no track record in childhood lead poisoning.

My opponent has also failed to protect our children in another way. Remarkably, something as simple but important as addressing the inadequacies of Rhode Island's Sex Offender Community Notification Guidelines and online registry is in fact opposed by Mr. Lynch. A comparison to Delaware is illuminating. Out of a total population of 843,500, Delaware has over 3,067 registered offenders, of whom 1,920 are Level II and III offenders. Rhode Island, on the other hand, with a total population of 1,050,000, has 1,400 registered offenders, of which only 70 are Level II and Level III offenders. Either Rhode IsIand has an especially moral population of sex offenders or there is a serious problem with our registry process. Additionally, while Delaware requires that the exact home and employer address of high-risk offenders are listed online, Rhode Island is one of four states with no such requirement.

Mr. Lynch has also proven to be woefully ineffective in his role of ensuring justice for Rhode Islanders in other ways.

For example, he let National Grid reach a settlement of 25 cents on the dollar to remediate 100 contaminated homes in Tiverton. He studiously looked away from scandals involving powerful Rhode Island corporations and insiders, including Beacon Mutual, Blue Cross and notably, John Celona's entanglement with Roger Williams Medical Center and Lynch's former lobbying client, CVS.

Other matters such as his refusal to indict anyone in the Newport pub- crawl death of Frances Marx, his lethargic approach to several dozen instances of documented voter fraud, and his notable failure to obtain jail time for a man convicted of stealing the pain medication of a child, who coincidentally was represented by Rhode Island House Speaker William Murphy, betray a clear reluctance to enforce the law equitably.

Finally, the outcry on all fronts about the plea agreement reached, according to Justice Francis J. Darigan, " . . . with a strong desire by the attorney general and defense counsel to conclude these cases without a trial," as the judge said, is perhaps the signature example of justice not served under this attorney general. Now Mr. Lynch is trying to delay the release of information he pledged to make public until nine days after the election. This in-your-face political move is an affront to open-records laws, the people of Rhode Island and especially to the victims of the Station nightclub fire and their families. It is this type of behavior that solidifies my belief that it's time for a change in the attorney general's office.

With the true spirit of justice as our guide, as we close in on Election Day, Nov. 7, Rhode Islanders should ask themselves, has Patrick Lynch fought for justice equally for everybody over the last four years? The answer, in my mind, is a resounding no.

From rooting out corruption to standing up for consumers and aggressively prosecuting violent crime, the Department of the Attorney General is perhaps the most important single office in state government. Accordingly, that office requires someone with professionalism, maturity and a reputation separate from and above politics.

As attorney general, I will restore these qualities to the office and fight hard to ensure that Rhode Islanders are treated to equal justice under the law no matter race, gender, class or political affiliation. It's time for an attorney general whom we can trust. Justice deserves no less.

William Harsch is the Republican candidate for Rhode Island attorney general.