BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana lawmaker apologized to the Attorney General Liz Murrill and colleagues after comparing the push to pass a bill to Nazi Germany.

Republican state Rep. Brian Glorioso from Slidell criticized a bill backed by Murrill during a heated debate on the House floor. House Bill 310 would reassign criminal cases to a new judge when a defendant opts out of a jury trial.

"This is what happened in Nazi Germany. People were afraid to speak out," Glorioso said.

The bill passed by a vote of nine to three in the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, two weeks after it narrowly failed on the House floor by three votes.

Glorioso said other lawmakers had been coerced or threatened by the attorney general to support the bill.

Rep. Mike Johnson said he didn't feel threatened or pressured. Murrill responded to Glorioso and insisted that he apologize for the comments.

“I respect the legislative process, but Representative Glorioso crossed the line and made comments unbecoming of a member of the House," Murrill said in a statement.

Glorioso apologized. "I should have kept my comments to the specifics of the bill," he said.

James Hartman, a political analyst, explained that Glorioso's choice of words was directed less at the bill and more at his perception that Murrill is trying to bully or pressure legislators into voting the way she wants.

Defense attorney Franz Borghardt said the legislation creates an unfair advantage by allowing the prosecuting attorney to essentially forum shop.

"It would create an unfair, arguably unconstitutional advantage to the state," Borghardt said.

Rep. Josh Carlson, the bill's sponsor, defended the legislation on the House floor.

"It is critically important that the integrity of our judicial system and our criminal justice system is upheld," Carlson said.