Florida Supreme Court Says State Attorney Waited Too Long To File Case Against DeSantis

Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren addresses the media after learning he was suspended from his duties by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2022. Octavio Jones/Reuters

State attorney Andrew Warren’s latest push to overturn Governor Ron DeSantis’s decision to suspend him from his job has been struck down by the Florida Supreme Court.

Warren is a twice-elected Democrat in Hillsborough County, which contains a large part of the Tampa Bay region. He has argued that the Republican governor misused his power by removing him from office on Aug. 4, 2022.

But Warren was told by the state Supreme Court on June 22 that he waited too long to file his petition. The Sunshine State’s highest court ruled 6-1 against Warren.

“This is an issue that is crucial for democracy in Florida,” Warren said in a written statement, reacting to the decision. “Rather than addressing the substance of the governor’s illegal action, the court cited a technicality and avoided a ruling on the merits of the case.”

DeSantis said he suspended Warren from his role in the 13th Judicial Circut due to “incompetence and willful defiance of his duties as state attorney.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a Republican presidential candidate, speaks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference in Washington on June 23, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Warren first opted to challenge DeSantis’s decision in federal court, arguing that the suspension was an attack on free speech and in violation of the Florida Constitution. But the U.S. District Court upheld DeSantis’s decision, finding the Eleventh Amendment prohibited federal intervention in the matter.

Now, the Florida Supreme Court has rejected the case, saying: “We deny the petition due to petitioner’s unreasonable, unexplained delay.”

The state court also outlined that Article IV, Section 7 of the Florida Constitution grants the governor the power to “suspend from office any state officer not subject to impeachment” and that it would be up to the Florida Senate to reinstate Warren to his position.

Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter among his peers, nothing that Warren has been elected twice by the Tampa area voters, and the amount of time still left in his term warranted hearing the case.

“Given that this case involves the suspension of a then-sitting elected official—for whom a substantial portion of the term yet remains—I am unpersuaded by the majority’s conclusion that Warren’s petition is properly denied on the ground of unreasonable delay,” he wrote in his dissent.

Labarga was appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Democrat who tried to displace DeSantis from the governor’s mansion in the November 2022 gubernatorial election.

Warren filed an appeal to the federal court’s ruling and currently is waiting for a response.

At Odds with DeSantis

Warren found himself at odds with DeSantis after stating he would not enforce further restrictions on abortion and “gender-affirming healthcare” passed by the Republican-controlled state government.

In 2021, Warren signed a joint statement declaring he was not going enforce state law and would use his “own discretion and not promote the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare or transgender people.”

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Warren signed another joint statement declaring he and 90 other elected state prosecutors would “decline to use [their] offices’ resources to criminalize reproductive health decisions and commit to exercise our well-settled discretion and refrain from prosecuting those who seek, provide, or support abortions.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the newly-adopted Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which prohibits abortions once the unborn child has a detectible heartbeat, in Tallahassee on April 13, 2023. Courtesy of the Florida Governor’s Office.

DeSantis then shared his perspective on the matter, and suspended Warren.

“State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” DeSantis said.

“It is my duty to hold Florida’s elected officials to the highest standards for the people of Florida.”

Florida had a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Then, earlier this year, lawmakers in the Florida Legislature passed a bill lowering that abortion window to six weeks, and DeSantis signed it.

He also signed legislation that banned transgender modifications that cause permanent mutilation of minors and requires adults receiving transgender surgeries and hormones to be informed about the likelihood that the procedures will be irreversible.

Federal judges have since blocked enforcement of that six-week abortion restriction and parts of the transgender legislation.

More Suspensions By Governor

Warren is not the only official in the state to get into trouble with DeSantis.

In Orange and Osceola Counties, State Attorney Monique Worrell butted heads with the governor’s office after it was said her office failed to enforce the appropriate punishment on a 19-year-old felon Keith Moses,  resulting in him being able to kill three people, including a 9-year-old girl.

“The failure of your office to hold this individual accountable for his actions—despite his extensive criminal history and gang affiliation—may have permitted this dangerous individual to remain on the street,” said DeSantis’s counsel, Ryan Newman.

The Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 22, 2023. Nanette Holt/the Epoch Times

Worrell’s office came under fire again after it allegedly refused to “properly” prosecute at least two human trafficking cases. She fought against the claims and remains in office.

“In the last 30 days, I have been the target of a fierce political attack by Governor DeSantis, Senator Rick Scott, and local law enforcement working on behalf of the governor,” Worrell posted on Twitter on March 27.

“The way they have prioritized politics over public safety has been frightening.”

Worrell had joined Warren and other state attorneys in signing the joint statement refusing to “criminalize gender-affirming health care.”

On June 5, the mayor of North Miami Beach, Anthony DeFillipo II, was suspended by DeSantis after he was arrested by local authorities for allegedly committing voter fraud.

Patricia Tolson, Dan Berger, and The Associated Press contributed to this story.