Florida Supreme Court upholds suspension of Democratic prosecutor by Ron DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s highest court on Thursday denied a bid to reinstate a suspended prosecutor who was removed from office last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the second suspension of a Democratic prosecutor.

Supreme Court justices voted 6-1 to reject a petition filed by suspended prosecutor Monique Worrell of the 9th Judicial District, which covers the Orlando metropolitan area. The majority of justices said they did not agree with her arguments that DeSantis’ reasons for suspending her were too vague or that the suspension violated her lawful exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

DeSantis alleged that Worrell failed to prosecute crimes committed by minors and failed to advocate for minimum sentences for gun offenses, thereby endangering the public in her Central Florida district.

Worrell said her suspension was politically motivated because it came while DeSantis was running for the Republican presidential nomination. She argued that the state constitution only allows the suspension of an elected official for blatant misconduct and that she was simply doing her job as she believed was right.

Five of the Supreme Court justices were appointed by DeSantis.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Jorge Labarga, who was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2009, said that because of Florida’s size, prosecutors must have the freedom to address the individual challenges of their communities.

Without this provision, prosecutors could face suspension and replacement when deciding which cases to prosecute, even though they were overwhelmingly elected by the district’s voters, Labarga wrote.

DeSantis last year fired District Attorney Andrew Warren, a twice-elected Democrat in Tampa, because of Warren’s signing of pledges not to file criminal charges against people who perform or have performed abortions or sex reassignment surgeries, as well as his policy of not filing charges for certain minor offenses.

DeSantis appointed Orange County District Judge Andrew Bain to replace Worrell, and Bain and Worrell are expected to face each other in an election for the post this year.