DeSantis said he suspended Hillsborough County District Attorney Andrew Warren this month because he signed a national pledge not to prosecute women and doctors for violating the state’s abortion law or families seeking treatments for transgender minors. “If the governor is allowed to do this, what is left of democracy? If the governor allows him to retaliate against me for speaking out, what’s left of the First Amendment,” Warren asked at a news conference in Tallahassee. The suit claims DeSantis has not identified any actual conduct involving criminal activity that would warrant a suspension and says the governor is punishing Warren for expressing positions DeSantis opposes. DeSantis, criticized by Democrats for signing abortion restrictions and bills deemed anti-LGBTQ into law, held a campaign-like event to announce Warren’s suspension where supporters cheered the decision. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday morning. Now, seeking re-election in November and positioning himself as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, the governor cited Warren’s “neglect of duty” and other alleged violations. In his executive order, DeSantis cited Warren’s policy not to pursue some lesser-known criminal charges, such as “trespassing on a place of business, disorderly conduct, disorderly intoxication and prostitution.” The suspension was supported by several law enforcement officers, including Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who said Warren was acting as a kind of “supreme authority” to decide “what crimes are going to be legal or illegal in our county.” Similar uses of prosecutorial discretion by progressives elected across the country in recent years have caused some pushback. In San Francisco, voters in June recalled Chesa Boudin, a former public defender who was elected district attorney in 2019 on a platform of criminal justice reform. Boudin has faced criticism over rising crime after refusing to prosecute most drug offences. A similar effort to recall the Los Angeles DA failed to gather enough signatures this week. Warren, who was elected in 2016 by Tampa-area voters and is up for re-election in 2020, said the governor is subverting the will of the people who put him in office. “The governor has attacked our democracy and it should concern everyone,” Warren told reporters. “If the governor’s attempt to unilaterally overturn an election is allowed, it threatens to undermine the integrity and outcome of elections across our state for years to come.” Warren described the pledge released by prosecutors across the country as “a statement of value,” not a definitive decision on how he might handle any particular case. He also noted that Florida’s new abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy has been ruled unconstitutional, and that the state doesn’t even have a law against hormone therapy for transgender minors. Warren’s lawsuit says the suspension was retaliatory after she opposed the governor on a number of issues, including DeSantis’ efforts to deny the restoration of voting rights for felons and to create new crimes for public protest in response to the Black Lives Matter movement as and new restrictions on abortion. “Of course, DeSantis is free to express his opinions and disagreements with Warren as often as he wants. Indeed, the Federal Constitution ensures that it is,” the lawsuit states. “DeSantis went too far.” The lawsuit says Warren has a duty to voters to speak his mind on such issues and that as prosecutor he has the right to decide how to use his limited resources to prosecute crimes. That priority should be public safety, he said. “The First Amendment protects the right of elected officials to speak on matters of public controversy, and in fact it does so because it is so important that the voters who choose those elected officials know where they stand on these issues,” Jean-Jacques Cabou, attorney of Warren, he said in a telephone interview. Warren’s suspension is now an issue in the governor’s race as Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the state’s only elected Democrat, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist enter the final week of primaries to see who will challenge DeSantis. “For this governor to weaponize his office and remove a state attorney — a prosecutor — who has discretion over which cases to prosecute and which not to prosecute, that’s overreach and overreach by this governor,” Fried said. on campaign. Tuesday night event. “It’s the most dangerous thing for our democracy that we’ve seen.”
