Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is consistently up for a fight, apparently in hopes of seizing the mantle of Donald Trump's divisive politics. His newest opponent is Andrew Warren, the two-time elected local prosecutor of Hillsborough County, Florida, which includes Tampa and has a population of 1.5 million, greater than that of 12 U.S. states. Warren recently joined 90 of his colleagues from across the country who asserted, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, that they would decline to prosecute people who "seek, provide, or support" abortions.
DeSantis branded Warren's statement a "blatant abuse of power," and immediately suspended and replaced him. Warren has sued the governor, alleging that his First Amendment rights have been violated. The closely watched case will be tried in November, and predicting the results is perilous. Florida law gives the governor broad removal power "for any . . . good and sufficient reason," where "the ends of justice would be best served." But with no actual case having been rejected by Warren, a court might conclude that the prosecutor was simply exercising his right of free speech.
