Florida Supreme Court rejects appeal against Worrell’s suspension

The Florida Supreme Court has blocked another path to rehabilitation for suspended Orange-Osceola District Attorney Monique Worrell, ruling 6-1 against her attempt to get her job back.

The court said Governor Ron DeSantis had the authority to fire her for incompetence and neglect of duty.

The majority opinion – signed by Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans, Meredith Sasso and Renatha Francis – said there were sufficient grounds for Worrell’s suspension, rejecting their objections that the charges against her – that she did not more aggressively pursue accused gun and drug traffickers and serious juvenile offenders – were too vague.

“We cannot agree with Worrell that the allegations in the Executive Order are unduly vague, nor do they address conduct that falls within the lawful discretion of the prosecutor,” the statement said.

“In addition,” it said, “we have said that a suspension order does not limit the lawful exercise of a prosecutor’s criminal discretion if the prosecutor claims that such discretion is not actually exercised in individual cases, but that general policies have led to categorical enforcement practices.”

The ruling leaves Worrell with two options to reclaim the post from which DeSantis ousted her last year in an unusual and controversial presidential power play: She can seek re-election later this year or prevail in a hearing before the Florida Senate.

The court specifically pointed to the Senate as the body that, according to the Constitution, must decide on the validity of the suspension. However, Worrell, a progressive Democrat, is unlikely to have a chance given the Republican two-thirds majority.

On the court, Worrell found favor only with her lone opponent, Judge Jorge Labarga, who pointed out that voters in Orange and Osceola counties had overwhelmingly voted to entrust her with “the unique challenges and circumstances that her diverse jurisdiction presents in handling specific cases.” That argument, which further argued that Worrell’s decisions were the result of her legal discretion as chief prosecutor, was rejected by the majority.

The Orlando Sentinel previously reported on deficiencies in a key reason for Worrell’s suspension: she failed to file drug trafficking charges in cases the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office initiated in 2022. In many of those cases, some of which are still ongoing, charges against the suspects were dropped or reduced for reasons ranging from illegal searches to flawed preliminary drug tests, records show.

Following her suspension, DeSantis appointed Orange County Circuit Judge Andrew Bain as her successor. Bain is now seeking re-election and is expected to run against Worrell.

In a statement released by Worrell as part of her re-election campaign, she sharply criticized the ruling, saying the judges, with the exception of Labarga, had “rubber-stamped a political ploy.” She also rejected the charge contained in DeSantis’ order that her office’s practices had endangered the public.

Rather, crime statistics in Orange and Osceola counties “have been lower during my tenure than in the past ten years,” she claimed.

“We have treated people equally and fairly and worked to hold law enforcement accountable – something the governor doesn’t like,” Worrell added. “I still believe in the right of voters to choose their prosecutor, even if Florida politics currently does not respect that principle. If I am re-elected, I will continue to put public safety and accountability above politics. I wish the governor would do the same.”

A spokesman for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the court’s decision.

Thursday’s ruling was the expected outcome after Worrell fought for months to get her job back. In December, the justices – all appointed by DeSantis except Canady and Labarga, who were appointed by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist – questioned whether they had the authority to reinstate her, with one judge likening her suspension to a criminal indictment.

“(The suspension order) makes allegations but does not have to prove them. That’s what the Senate process is for,” Canady said at the Dec. 6 hearing. “… That’s kind of a political question, in my view: the scope, how the duty is understood and how it is defined.”

Worrell’s lawyers warned at the time that it would have a chilling effect on prosecutors exercising discretion in the future for fear of being implicated in politically motivated firings. DeSantis’ legal team countered that discretion “does not protect prosecutors from suspensions.”

Worrell was elected to office in 2020 on a progressive platform that included reducing incarceration rates and holding law enforcement accountable in cases of excessive use of force. She was suspended in August after several public clashes with Central Florida law enforcement leaders, who she signaled were planning to fire her.

Although they denied the allegation, many of the claims made before Worrell’s suspension formed the basis of the executive order issued by DeSantis, who had previously suspended Hillsborough County District Attorney Andrew Warren. Warren was fired after signaling he would not enforce laws criminalizing people who seek or perform abortions.

Unlike Worrell, Warren’s case was not heard by the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled that he had hesitated too long before petitioning the court. However, his case will be heard in the federal courts.