The Tampa-based state attorney who was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis last week for “incompetence and willful defiance of his duties” said he will vigorously defend his legal rights but has not provided details.
DeSantis suspended Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit for what the governor said was “neglect of duty.” In an executive order, DeSantis pointed to a statement Warren signed with other elected prosecutors in support of gender-transition treatments for youth and bathroom usage based on gender identity. Warren also said he would not pursue criminal cases against people who seek or provide abortions.
Though Florida has not enacted any criminal statutes barring such gender-transition treatments, Warren’s statements show that “Warren thinks he has authority to defy the Florida Legislature and nullify in his jurisdiction criminal laws with which he disagrees,” the executive order states.
“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 in a prepared statement. “It is my duty to hold Florida’s elected officials to the highest standards for the people of Florida.”
Warren has said on Twitter that the governor’s action is tantamount to nullifying the will of voters in the Tampa area, who twice elected him state attorney.
“Ron DeSantis is trying to overthrow democracy in Florida,” he said. “His plot to suspend me blatantly violates the fundamental basis of our democracy: your vote.”
DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, told the Florida Record that the legal and factual basis for Warren’s suspension is fully laid out in the Aug. 4 order.
“Per the state constitution, the only elected official who can veto laws passed by the state Legislature is the governor,” Pushaw said.
DeSantis appointed a Hillsborough County judge, Susan Lopez, to serve as state attorney during the suspension.