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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s bid to become the nuttiest nut in the right-wing nuthouse has led him to pick fights with a wide range of opponents including: Disney, teachers, LGBTQIA people, women, diversity and ESG initiatives, and jeez, the list goes on.
Now one of DeSantis’s targets is striking back.
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Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren was suspended from his job by DeSantis after he signed a pledge to not prosecute women or doctors over abortion laws or families that seek medical treatment for transgender children. Because despite the fact that prosecutorial discretion is absolutely baked into the criminal justice system, now that it isn’t cops accused of excessive force getting a pass on prosecution, it’s all of a sudden a huge problem.
Anyway, yesterday Warren filed a lawsuit alleging DeSantis violated his First Amendment rights.
“If the governor’s allowed to do this, what’s left of democracy? If the governor’s allowed to retaliate against me for speaking out, what’s left of the First Amendment,” Warren asked at a news conference in Tallahassee.
The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis did not identify any actual conduct involving criminal activity that would warrant a suspension and says the governor is punishing Warren for voicing positions that DeSantis opposes.
Warren also noted that the pledge he signed was “a value statement,” not a statement on how he’d handle any particular case. Further, with Florida’s 15-week abortion ban declared unconstitutional by the state supreme court and the lack of a law regarding transgender healthcare for minors, Warren argues his suspension was mere retaliation for having different political opinions than the governor.
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“Of course, DeSantis is free to express his views and his disagreements with Warren as often as he likes. Indeed, the Federal Constitution ensures that he is,” the suit says. “DeSantis went too far.”
Warren’s attorney, Jean-Jacques Cabou, also said it’s important to let voters know where Warren stands on the issues, “The First Amendment protects the right of elected officials to speak out on matters of public controversy, and in fact it does so because it’s so important that the voters who choose these elected officials know where they stand on these issues.”
DeSantis has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).