A Carroll County lawmaker is suggesting that Maryland’s attorney general begin compiling historical data on slavery in the state not only for the future statewide reparations commission to consider, but also for the office to initiate legal action against the Maryland Democratic Party.

Del. Christopher Bouchat, a Republican who represents Carroll and Frederick counties, sent a letter to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown on Thursday to suggest his office pull historical data from 1860 to 1965 and list all state legislation enacted concerning slavery, including capture and extradition of enslaved people and Jim Crow era laws that oppressed African Americans.

The letter came less than 24 hours after the House of Delegates passed a bill to create the Maryland Reparations Commission. The group will be tasked with studying and making recommendations on benefits to Marylanders whose ancestors were enslaved or impacted by inequitable government policies, which include policies from the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.

Bouchat voted against the bill.

But the research, he wrote, should be “overlaid with data indicating which political party controlled the General Assembly,” as well as which governor signed the legislation into law. He urged the attorney general’s office to begin preparing the data now.

“If we, as reformers who truly seek the truth about slavery and Jim Crow in Maryland, are to move forward we must not only publicly expose the political institutions and parties responsible for crimes against African Americans but also hold them fiscally liable in court, officially placing their accountability on the judicial record,” Bouchat wrote. “That political party is irrefutably the Maryland Democratic Party, and I believe it is incumbent upon us, collectively, to correct this historical injustice and publicly hold the responsible party accountable before true healing can begin.”

The Maryland Democratic Party did not immediately return a request for comment on the letter.

Gov. Wes Moore’s office and House Speaker Adrienne Jones’ office did not comment on the letter. Senate President Bill Ferguson could not be reached for comment.

The effort to establish a reparations commission in Maryland has not been without challenges from Republicans in the legislature. House Republicans offered several amendments during debates this week, which were rejected.

Its passage, however, is a win for Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus, which prioritized the measure this session.

On Wednesday, Del. Stephanie Smith, a Baltimore City Democrat, said she was proud to vote in favor of the bill.

“When we talk about when is it the right time — it wasn’t ever a good time to be enslaved. It was never a good time to be discriminated against, and it’s never been a good time to be erased in your humanity,” she said. “But we are offering just a conversation and a commission to acknowledge that they were here, that they lived, that they contributed, and I think they merit our time because they lived, they died, they dared to be free and didn’t get the chance. And guess what? They were taxpayers that never got what they invested in.”

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.