TALLAHASSEE — On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the immediate suspension of Monique Worrell, the state attorney for Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orange and Osceola counties). It is the second time in one year that DeSantis has suspended a state attorney from the opposition party.
The governor accused Worrell of being soft on crime and under-prosecuting criminals in her jurisdiction. An executive order charged that Worrell systematically allowed criminals to evade incarceration by dropping charges or declining to allege provable facts. While DeSantis acknowledged that prosecutors like Worrell "have a certain amount of discretion about which cases to bring and which not," he accused Worrell of having "abused that discretion."
"Today we mourn the loss of democracy," said Worrell in a statement released to her social media. "I am the duly-elected State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Nothing done by a weak dictator can change that. This is an outrage. I will not be bullied by DeSantis or used as a tool in his failing and disastrous presidential campaign."
Worrell is a Democrat who was elected to the office in 2020. Last August, DeSantis suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren after the Democrat indicated he would not enforce state restrictions on abortion or gender-related surgery.
“It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” said DeSantis in a press release announcing the suspension. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
In Worrell’s steed, DeSantis appointed Orlando Judge Andrew Bain, who is a member of the conservative Federalist Society. On Thursday, Bain immediately moved to make sweeping changes, firing two executive staff members, canceling a policy that allowed people awaiting a hearing in immigration court to be released from custody and discontinuing diversion programs while he evaluates their effectiveness.
Both Worrell and Warren claim that their suspensions were purely political and had more to do with DeSantis' presidential campaign than their performance. It is notable that DeSantis suspended Warren over a hot-buttoned political issue at a time when he was gearing up for a presidential run and Worrell over "law and order" matters just as his floundering campaign has pivoted toward that talking point.
Warren challenged his suspension in court, and while he was unable to get his job back, a federal judge nevertheless found that DeSantis had violated his right to free speech as well as the Florida Constitution.
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Cat L
Unsurprising that he would do something like this, he's a petty tyrant. That's a shame, though. The neonazi Gov needs to go.
Friday, August 11, 2023 Report this