OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting his foot down with state prosecutors he says are allowing their personal political agendas to get in the way of their sworn duty to help enforce duly-passed laws.
On Thursday, the GOP governor announced that he sent law enforcement to remove State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit, who was elected to his office with financial help from billionaire leftist George Soros, for failing to uphold laws.
“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 noted in a statement. “It is my duty to hold Florida’s elected officials to the highest standards for the people of Florida. I have the utmost trust that Judge Susan Lopez will lead the office through this transition and faithfully uphold the rule of law.”
His order noted: “As of the signing of this Executive Order, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by other law enforcement agencies as necessary, is requested to: (i) assist in the immediate transition of Andrew Warren from the Office of the State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit of Florida, with access only to retrieve his personal belongings; and (ii) ensure that no files, papers, documents, notes, records, computers, or removable storage media are removed from the Office of the State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit of Florida by Andrew Warren or any of his staff.”
In an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, DeSantis explained that “Soros prosecutors around the country basically take it upon themselves to determine which laws should be followed, and which laws should not be followed.”
The Daily Wire adds:
DeSantis, who noted that he has the state constitutional authority to remove prosecutors from office if they are not doing their jobs, said that he had his staff review all state attorneys and that’s when they discovered the issues with Warren.
“Here’s what Soros is doing. It’s actually smart on his part, they can’t get these things enacted in a legislature where you’re just gonna let criminals run [amok],” DeSantis said. “So what they do, he will get involved in these Democrat primaries and a Democrat area, he’ll flush a million dollars to get the radical to win the primary then they usually win the general because of the party affiliation difference in the jurisdiction.”
“So then you get them in there and what they do is they want to change the criminal justice system through non-enforcement,” he added. “So it’s a total end run around our constitutional system. The results obviously have been destructive around the country. But it also really undermines the idea that ours is supposed to be a government of laws, not a government of individual men.”
In a tweet last month, Warren wrote: “The 15-week ban is unconstitutional on its face. Tallahassee knew it when it passed the bill hoping judges will ignore the privacy right in FL Constitution.”
“I put my hand on the Bible and swore to defend the US & Florida Constitutions. Florida’s Constitution has a privacy right that clearly covers abortion. While Tallahassee tries to circumvent the law, I will uphold the law and protect our freedom,” he added.
The 15-week ban is unconstitutional on its face. Tallahassee knew it when it passed the bill hoping judges will ignore the privacy right in FL Constitution.
Beware of the hypocritical “textualist”who wants the law strictly limited to the words on the page only when convenient. https://t.co/OHqv71BOeD— Andrew Warren (@AndrewWarrenFL) June 30, 2022
But during a press conference Thursday, the governor said that Warren has refused on several occasions to enforce laws duly passed by the legislature that crack down on child sex-change operations as well as other abortion restrictions.
As part of his suspension order, DeSantis tapped Hillsborough County Court Judge Lopez to replace Warren, Fox News reported.
Democrats pounced on the suspension, including his main Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Nikki Fried, the state’s Agriculture commissioner.
“This is outrageous and dangerous,” Fried tweeted, going on to call DeSantis a “wannabe dictator.”
BREAKING: Ron DeSantis, wannabe dictator, just suspended Florida State Attorney @AndrewWarrenFL for saying he wouldn't prosecute Florida's cruel and unacceptable 15-week abortion ban.
This is outrageous and dangerous.
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) August 4, 2022
DeSantis defended his action, telling Fox News: “I do think that some of these prosecutors that have very militant agenda in terms of ideology have been able to get away with a lot in other states. … We’ve had prosecutors around this country that think they can pick and choose which laws to enforce.”
The state attorney “may have thought, because they get away with it in Los Angeles, they get away with it in Baltimore, that he could do this stuff in Florida,” DeSantis added. “Not on my watch … We’re going to take action, decisive action, to protect the people of the state.”
