Several plaintiffs are suing Gov. Ron DeSantis over his suspension of the Orlando-area state attorney earlier this year, arguing that the governor’s action flies in the face of the voters’ will and violates constitutional rights.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the legal complaint on Nov. 30 in the Middle District of Florida. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis’ suspension of Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell, who was elected in 2020 after garnering 67% of the vote while advocating for policies that hold police officers more accountable for their actions, restricting the use of cash bail, focusing on mental health and drug abuse, and seeking out alternatives to prison sentences.
In August, DeSantis suspended Worrell from office over allegations that she was incompetent and neglected her official duties.
“Gov. DeSantis’s baseless suspension of Ms. Worrell effectively disenfranchised the voters who elected her and seriously undermined the fundamental fairness and integrity of the electoral process,” the lawsuit, which seeks a court order reinstating Worrell, states.
In his executive order suspending Worrell, DeSantis said that Worrell had systematically allowed violent offenders, drug dealers, juvenile criminals and pedophiles to avoid prison time when such punishment was warranted by state law.
“With respect to prison admissions from Jan. 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, the Ninth Circuit, on a per-capita basis, had among the lowest prison admission rates relative to other circuits for the following crimes: robbery with a weapon, armed burglary and weapons possession,” the executive order says.
The governor said his actions were based on the authority granted him by Article IV, Section 7 of the Florida Constitution.
Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) has criticized DeSantis’ actions against Worrell and the use of prison admission data to validate the dismissal.
“I think it’s incredibly problematic and even archaic to measure the effectiveness of a prosecutor based on prison sentences,” Eskamani told the Florida Record in an email. “We have so much data available today that challenges the assumption that prison sentences improve public safety.”
She also expressed concern about how the suspension might set an unnerving precedent for the use of executive powers in Florida.
“I will also add that if the courts allow Gov. DeSantis to remove Monique Worrell in this way, it will be an unsettling precedent for any governor to remove local elected officials that they do not like or agree with,” Eskamani said.
In the wake of Worrell’s suspension, Attorney General Ashley Moody said her office would take over the task of prosecuting Deandre Eugene Florence, who now faces charges including first-degree murder and racketeering in the shooting death of a 15-year-old teen. Worrell and former State Attorney Aramis Ayala declined to file charges in the 2018 case, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
One of the plaintiffs in the SPLC litigation said the lawsuit was needed to counter what he described as the governor’s political agenda.
“Many central Florida voters, like me, were enthusiastic about Attorney Worrell’s proposed criminal justice reforms when she was a candidate, and we made our support known in the streets and at the ballot box,” Rajib Chowdhury said in a prepared statement. “She was elected by an overwhelming majority of the vote to represent the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court, and we want her back in office.”