Politicians who enacted strict COVID-19 measures including lockdowns and vaccine mandates should be brought to justice, says Republican Maryland Attorney General candidate Michael Peroutka.
“Nothing could be more on the point that all these lockdowns, mandates, orders, edicts, proclamations, declarations, whatever you want to call them, none of them were lawful. They were all violation of the law, and that can’t continue,” Peroutka told The Epoch Times. “Those people who have violated this document [the Maryland Constitution] need to be brought to justice.”
He believes that implementing the restrictions was an abuse of power under the Maryland Constitution, citing Article 44 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, a document similar to the Bill of Rights.
Article 44 says “any departure” or “violation” of the provision of the U.S. Constitution and Maryland Constitution, for whatever reason, is subversive of “good Government.”
“I would investigate and prosecute anybody who did that,” he said.
He thinks the science behind the COVID-19 measures is far from being perfect, but even if it is, the law still prohibits the government from implementing such restrictions.
Peroutka was a presidential candidate in 2004 for the Constitution Party. He defeated Jim Shalleck, a former state and federal prosecutor, and won the Republican nomination for attorney general of Maryland in July.
Before running for the attorney general position, he was a council member for Anne Arundel County between 2014 and 2018.
He also holds the view that “overreach” is not enough to define what both the federal government and the Old Line State government did during the pandemic.
Stopping Lawlessness in Government
Peroutka has an uphill battle ahead of him.The Democrats have held the Maryland Attorney General’s Office for decades. The last time a Republican presided over the office in Maryland was between 1952 and 1954.
As a vehement Constitution originalist, Peroutka believes the Constitution should be interpreted as to how the Founders intended in the context of belief and morality.
“The whole of the [living] Constitution idea is invented by people who don’t want to follow the Constitution at all,” he said.
If elected to preside over the Office of the Attorney General, his utmost priority will be stopping lawlessness in government. In addition, he also strongly supports the Second Amendment and vows to protect the right to life.
Peroutka believes so-called red flag laws are unlawful and don’t have due process.
He said he will prosecute those who try to enforce them.
Democrat Candidate’s Policy Agenda
Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.), the Democrat candidate, has a long record of public service.He was elected to the U.S. House in 2016. He was the lieutenant governor of Maryland between 2007 and 2015 and a Maryland state assemblyman between 1999 and 2007.
He served in the U.S. Army as an aviation officer from 1984 to 1989 and in the U.S. Army Reserve for 25 years after that.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Brown’s campaign for comment.
According to his campaign website, Brown is running on a typical Democrat Party platform. His policy priorities include expanding voting access in Maryland, legalizing marijuana, protecting abortion, protecting the environment and fighting climate change, and ensuring equity, equality, and fairness to help black Maryland residents.
He also pledges to continue his long-time work in regulating guns, following introducing and co-sponsoring several bills in the U.S. House intended to regulate guns.
He supports red flag laws, wants to raise the minimum age for gun purchases, and backs microstamping ammunition for semi-automatic handguns.
