Ron DeSantis Cancelled An Elected Official, Just Like He Did to Me
By: Andrew Warren (The Daily Beast)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
AUTHORITARIAN STATE OF FLORIDA
Florida's governor suspended another state attorney on a political whim. This is an affront to democracy and the rule of law.
Andrew Warren
Updated Aug. 10, 2023 8:43AM EDT / Published Aug. 10, 2023 4:46AM EDT opinion
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Retuers
Ron DeSantis doesn't believe in the rule of law. Period. Full stop. And he's proven it over and over again.
The Florida governor's suspension of the duly elected district attorney in Orlando is just the latest attack on the fundamental freedoms that he is sworn to uphold. And this is no isolated incident.
Unfortunately, it fits comfortably with his authoritarian brand of partisan politics that has sent shockwaves across Florida and threatens the foundations of our Republic by subverting American democracy.
Early Wednesday morning, DeSantis announced that he was suspending State Attorney Monique Worrell of Orange and Osceola counties for what he described as "incompetence" and "neglect of duty."
The executive order effectuating the suspension identifies Worrell's "practices and policies" regarding mandatory minimum sentences, juvenile offenders, gun violence, and drug trafficking cases. Following her suspension, Worrell shot back with statistics about how crime in her community has decreased and how her constituents support her policies.
This type of debate about an elected official's policies and record makes for healthy dialogue during a campaign. That's the problem with the executive order; it reads like a list of talking points for a candidate running against Worrell.
But this is not a campaign, and there is nothing healthy about it.
It isn't neglect of duty when a public official carries out the agenda they promised to the voters who put them in office in a free and fair election. It's the way democracy works, whether you're on the winning team or the losing team after the results are counted.
When one elected executive can overturn the will of the voters arbitrarily, simply because he disagrees with their policies, it's time to question just what kind of democracy we have.
DeSantis just overthrew the results of a fair and free election because he disagrees with how the elected official is doing her job. He is denying the people of Orlando their right to have the state attorney of their choice. He installed the person he wants to be in office, rather than the one the voters elected.
It's his typical anti-freedom agenda, and I would know: In August 2022, DeSantis suspended me, the elected state attorney in Tampa.
State Attorney Worrell and I are both Democrats, and both of us had spoken out against several of the governor's policies before being suspended. I sued DeSantis, and earlier this year a federal judge concluded that the suspension was unlawful—that the governor had violated state and federal law in trying to remove me from office for politics and for publicity. (The judge said that he lacked the authority to reinstate me and the case is currently pending appeal on that issue.)
The judge called on DeSantis to rescind my suspension, noting that if he did not, it would be clear that politics were the true motivation behind it. Unsurprisingly, DeSantis ignored the federal court's invitation to reinstate me to my duly elected office. The governor has also ignored the court's conclusions about the illegality of my suspension, continuing to brag about it in his stump speeches for his presidential campaign, telling lies and making misleading statements that the court found to be wholly inaccurate.
It's clear from his suspension of Worrell that DeSantis has ignored the rule of law once again.
There have been rumors swirling since last year that DeSantis was targeting Worrell. So why suspend her now?
Well, timing is everything, and his flailing presidential campaign needed a new distraction. Clearly, his team thought another move out of the authoritarian playbook—with an eye to the culture wars—would do nicely.
The suspension came the day after news broke that DeSantis fired his campaign manager, his most recent attempt to reboot his campaign. In recent weeks DeSantis has faced growing scrutiny about his campaign struggles—major donors backing off, poor polling, and an inability to connect with voters. Suspending Worrell fits with a scared candidate who is desperate to rescue his presidential campaign.
"It isn't neglect of duty when a public official carries out the agenda they promised to the voters that put them in office in a free and fair election. It's the way democracy works..."
But this is no typical campaign shake-up or political Hail Mary that a stumbling candidate might employ. It's far worse, and it's not the way things should work in this country.
It is an illegal, unconstitutional attack on democracy and the rule of law—the latest abuse of power in an administration defined by them; championing and passing unconstitutional laws that infringe on free speech; orchestrating criminal stunts to trick unsuspecting migrants; punishing companies like Disney for opposing laws that he supports; and violating campaign finance laws.
Today we are questioning DeSantis' latest authoritarian move. Tomorrow, we must question who will be targeted next, and when will Floridians say enough is enough?
We all know the saying that desperate times call for desperate measures, and the DeSantis campaign seems to have fully embraced that mantra.
But when elected officials get so desperate that they are willing—and, worse, able—to abuse their authority to advance their political ambitions, it poses a foundational danger to our Republic.
America witnessed that desperation manifest itself in the attack on our Capitol on Jan. 6. Incidentally, last week former President Donald Trump was indicted for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election—a desperate attempt to cling to power after being removed from the White House by the American people, and an attempt to illegally subvert their will and our constitutional rights to choose our leaders.
DeSantis and Trump were not the first politicians in U.S. history to do something illegal to win or stay in elected office, and they will not be the last. But our nation has stood as the beacon for democracy throughout the world because we, as a people, have rejected such desperation.
We must call out DeSantis' latest assault on democracy for what it is. No one who ignores or subverts the laws of our country can ever be permitted to lead it.
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Every single day DeSantis does something to make the people of America dislike him more. What a job he is doing !
Gov. Ron DeSantis removes Black elected State Attorney Monique H. Worrell
Early this morning in Tallahassee, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his suspension of Orlando area State Attorney Monique Worrell (D) for what he alleges is her refusal to pursue “appropriate” charges in serious cases.
In full disclosure, I have known State Attorney Worrell since our school days at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in the late 90’s, so I can personally vouch for her perspicacity and commitment to justice.
That said, Worrell becomes the latest democratically elected prosecutor to draw the ire of a Republican governor using racial dog whistles to intimate that Democratic prosecutors, in general, and Black elected prosecutors, specifically, are “soft on crime.”
As with most things these days, the truth—or lack thereof—of these Republican talking points is sorely lacking! You see, the main issue in these matters over the past decade has been prosecutors using their constitutionally based discretion to seek alternative sentences on drug possession crimes, or, to limit instances within which the death penalty is sought for capital murder charges, who have drawn the ire of Republicans who like to see those charged with such offenses—disproportionately Black or Brown—face long prison sentences.
Indeed, self-styled “tough on crime” types like DeSantis and his predecessor, now Sen. Rick Scott, have used their executive branch authority to suspend prosecutors who were reticent to lead legal lynch mobs against defendants accused of first degree murder.
Curiously, Sen. Scott, while governor, meddled in the affairs of Worrell’s prosecutorial predecessor, Aramis Ayala, allegedly due to her refusal to seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd, a Black man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton in 2017. Ayala was the first Black person elected prosecutor in Florida’s long (and mostly segregated) history, but she ultimately lost her legal challenges to Scott’s removal of her cases when the Florida Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, sided with the governor .
Earlier this year, DeSantis removed Tampa State Attorney Andrew Warren, a Democrat, because the twice elected prosecutor indicated that his office would not pursue abortion related charges in the wake of Florida's draconian anti-abortion laws that were passed not long after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade via the Dobbs decision last summer.
Since announcing his presidential bid earlier this year, Gov. DeSantis has deliberately chosen to stake his Oval Office ambitions on being farther to the right of even Donald Trump on “culture war” issues. To be clear, that means that DeSantis is seeking to “out-bigot” Trump, arguably the most outwardly bigoted president that America has had since Woodrow Wilson a little over a century ago!
Whether it has been Desantis’ ill advised and unwinnable war against the Disney Corporation—Florida’s most prominent private employer—for its refusal to back down on criticizing his homophobic agenda, or his doubling down on refusing to teach real Black historical facts, DeSantis, trailing Trump by nearly 40 percentage points, is too tone deaf to hear that even among Republican Primary voters, the majority DO NOT CARE about his “anti-woke” agenda. As Donald Trump, of all people, pointed out several weeks ago, DeSantis “can't even define woke”—and is making a fool out of himself as his campaign has struck ice and is going down faster than the Titanic!
Thinking himself clever, DeSantis tapped Orange County Judge Andrew Bain, a former star football player at the University of Miami and graduate of the Florida A&M University College of Law, as Worrell's replacement.
What you must know is that Judge Bain is a member of the Federalist Society, a hard core conservative group that has backed recent Supreme Court judicial nominees Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, among others. Meaning, Judge Bain is cut from the same ideological cloth as DeSantis, a fact that now allows the governor to say, “see, how can I be called a racist if I appointed a Black replacement prosecutor?” But the simple reality is that State Attorney Worrell, elected with better than 67% of the vote, has been replaced with someone who will do the governor's ideological bidding!
Over two decades ago, I served as an assistant state attorney in Tallahassee and I can attest that one of the best aspects of the job was the ability to use my own judgment in determining just outcomes in thousands of cases. Because of that, I cannot imagine the frustration that State Attorneys Worrell, Warren, and Ayala must have felt in knowing that a sitting governor, playing politics, was there lurking and waiting to usurp their authority.
Similarly, as one who tried countless murder cases across Florida after I left the State Attorney’s office, including multiple capital murder cases where the death penalty was sought, I can attest that the principal purpose of the death penalty, which is to deter future murders and murderers, simply DOES NOT work; even a cursory glance at the local news each night shows that folks are being killed every single day in cities and towns across Florida. Thus, who can blame elected state attorneys for seeking ways to address crime in Florida as the old ways surely have not lessened crime rates one bit?
Now, if you are wondering “what can be done,” I remind my readers now, as I always do during election season, to get out and VOTE! Yes, presidential and gubernatorial races are important, but local prosecutor races are critically important, too! If you do not know the name of your local district, state, or state’s attorney, find out who they are and if you're living in a red state with a blue prosecutor in your district or circuit, be prepared to write letters to the federal or state level appellate courts in support of the person you helped elect should they find themselves compromised by some ambitious (if not mischievous) Republican governor.
Chuck Hobbs is a freelance journalist who won the 2010 Florida Bar Media Award and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
Why is race such an important aspect to you?
Uh, those are not my words, they are the words of the man who wrote the linked article.
I understand that, however, you have a knack for finding articles that focus on race.
Maybe she just sucked as a n attorney and even more so at her job?
Does Florida have a means of impeachment or recall so they can get rid of this douche nozzle?
This "douche nozzle" will be your president one day.
Democrats love their pro gun crime prosecutors. How many innocent people have to die before Democrats support punishing gun crimes?
Also funny to see them call a Governor exercising his Constitutional powers an affront to the Rule of Law while defending a prosecutor who refused to enforce it.
Democrats do love their criminals- so long as they aren't Conservatives/Republicans that is.
My understanding is that
1. The prosecutor ran for election on a platform saying that she would seek to lower incarceration rates in the district.
2. She won 3 years ago with 67% of the vote in the general election.
3. The crime rate is down in the district under her administration of the local law enforcement system.
How in hell does anyone think it is ok to remove an elected official from office because of political disagreements. DeSantis is cutting his own political throat.
A judge ruled in the first case that DeSantis violated the Florida constitution and the First Amendment.
See comment 6
And was roundly mocked by the Florida Supreme Court for offering silly extraneous opinions.
Nope
This is puzzling to me because no one in Florida seems to be paying any attention to their own Constitution. Granted, I haven’t pursued caselaw on the matter because I have a life.
First, just consider the nature of a suspension. Without even looking at a law, the common understanding of “suspension” is that it’s temporary. You are suspended for a week, a month, whatever. The Florida Constitution also treats this kind of suspension as temporary. It speaks of the governor making a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy. None of this is supposed to be permanent. Yet the first prosecutor to be removed only contested the governor’s authority to suspend him in the first place.
Second - and of course - there is a standard, which has not been met. We all know the US president can be impeached for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Not for bullshit. Not for exercising ordinary discretion. Not because of policy. Florida’s constitution cites the following standard for suspending a public official:
Clearly, that is not what is happening with either of the suspended prosecutors in Florida. These prosecutors are showing up for work every day, not committing crimes, and exercising ordinary discretion under their authority. But even if you think those things are happening, there is supposed to be a hearing in the State Senate. No one is even trying to make that happen.
So DeSantis appears to be acting like a dictator, but everyone around him - including his victims - is letting him get away with it.
This is the judges ruling in the first case:
So the Judge whined like a bitch because he couldn't reverse DeSantis legally performed action. The whining little pussy should retire.
This is the Judges words in the article:
No whining by the judge he stated a law. It's always best to read and understand before spewing nonsense.
The judge whined like a little bitch and was slapped by the supreme court. typical liberal. I understood perfectly. you posted a judges opinion not based on fact.
Pretty infantile assessment.
accurate, IF the piece of shit doesn't have jurisdiction, then dismiss it and move on, opinions are for rulings.
I don't believe that you understood at all.
This is from the Supreme Court Decision:
What I get from the Constitution is that the Senate is supposed to decide the matter and then if they find the official doesn't deserve to be removed permanently, the governor is supposed to reinstate the official.
If so, then the prosecutor could appeal to both the state and federal Supreme Courts.
Warren did file with the Florida courts and the Florida Supreme Court ruled that he, Warren had filed to late under state law.
So we have a Lawyer that is so incompetent he can't meet the statute time line? Good thing DeSantis suspended him.
I'm sure that your legal expertise is well documented in the Florida courts.
Published and law review, number 4 in my class. Where is your law degree from?
Yeah, I thought that was unnecessarily harsh. Six months is not that long a time, though if it were my job, I think I would have filed sooner. The court cited similar precedents in reaching that conclusion, but no statutory law on point.
Usually, there is some logic to a statue of limitations or any laches ruling - like the memories of witnesses, degradation of evidence, expectation of defendants being dragged into court, etc. This seemed kind of arbitrary.
I read the opinion of the court. I didn't see a statue cited that has a hard deadline for filing. Perhaps there was something in one of the cases they cited, but you'd think they'd mention it if there was one.
You think that the prosecutor or the legal counsel that he hired wouldn't need the court to tell them. Many a lawyer has been fined and sanctioned by the bar for missing deadlines to appeal/File. they should sue their counsel.
That's very impressive, George. That being true I would have thought that you could have cited and or written a much more compelling reply.
I never claimed that I had a law degree, George. I used the decision of the courts to find out the facts.
Just a response to your always snide comment. And Florida has no record of my legal expertise because I'm not licensed to practice there.
It was you that started the kindergarten replies, George.
DeSantis is probably worried about the latest Republican poll that shows him third, now behind both Trump and Ramaswamy. So what could be better than to show that he is really a tough guy and to deflect from the poll by firing another prosecutor?
The reason they dismissed it is they are not the venue, the Constitution clearly states that the Senate is the venue for reversing it, their role is extremely limited in this, plus the piece of crap prosecutor venue shopped and went Federal with-in 2 weeks. he should have known that wasn't the proper venue and the Federal courts dismissed his 1st amendment claim with Prejudice.
I've always wondered why someone that lives in Florida, hates the state and the governor with a passion, but still decides to remain residing her.
You would think those people would move to a state that more meets their idea of utopia.
Pick one. Is it venue or timeliness? Shifting the goalposts makes the whole thing look like BS.
I explained this to you once before, bugsy. First off I don't hate the state of Florida, if I did I'd move. I love the horse country that I live in and having been raised with horses I'm right at home and spent a lot of time at WEC and friend's horse farms. Historically we are the horse people you know. I don't hate DeSantis, that would require me to be emotionally invested in him and I'm not, I point out all the failings that he is gathering and according to various polls, the latest one is a Republican poll shows him falling further behind Trump and now he is behind Ramaswamy as well.
His major donors are telling him to moderate his approach, I don't think that he has the ability to do that, but we shall see.
You would think that you would have understood it the first time that I explained it to you.
SIGH.........The wrong Venue for reinstatement AND he was late in filing, so you didn't actually read the opinion like you claimed.
Your deflection is lame. Like I said, when your story keeps changing, it’s obvious BS.
My story hasn't changed your inability to accept the truth has remained the same also.
No truth to accept. Just shifting winds of nonsense.