TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the Florida Constitution and the First Amendment when he suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, but a federal judge has concluded that he does not have the power to restore Warren to office.
DeSantis suspended Warren from office Aug. 4, accusing him of neglecting his duties by refusing to enforce state laws. DeSantis pointed to statements Warren signed with other elected prosecutors throughout the nation in which they pledged to refrain from prosecuting cases involving abortion or transgender health care. The governor also cited Warren’s policies discouraging prosecution of certain low-level misdemeanors and cases arising from police stops of bicyclists.
The governor announced the suspension in a news conference that had the air of a campaign rally. Standing with DeSantis were several local law enforcement officials, including Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister and former Tampa police Chief Brian Dugan. Speakers voiced an assortment of complaints about Warren and his policies.
Susan Lopez, a longtime Hillsborough prosecutor whom DeSantis appointed as a county judge last year, was selected to replace Warren. She has since assumed the responsibilities of state attorney.
Two weeks after the suspension, Warren sued DeSantis in federal court, aiming to get his job back. He denied that he’d refused to enforce laws and said the suspension was political retaliation that violated his right to free speech.
He sought a judge’s order restoring him to office and barring DeSantis from taking any further action against him. He framed the lawsuit as a fight for democracy, emphasizing that Hillsborough County voters had twice elected him to be their state attorney.
“By challenging this illegal abuse of power, we make sure that no governor can toss out the results of an election because he doesn’t like the outcome,” Warren said at the time.
When the case came before Hinkle in September, the judge said he preferred to have a trial to decide it “once and for all.” He expressed reluctance to make a ruling without a thorough vetting of the facts, and said he wanted to avoid a destabilizing effect that could occur if Warren were reinstated only for an appeals court to later uphold his removal.
“The public isn’t served by yo-yoing this office,” Hinkle said then.
So it was that for the next two months, lawyers for Warren and DeSantis assembled witnesses and traded evidence as they each sought to defend their side.
From Warren’s lawyers came allegations and evidence that the governor’s motive was purely political. Key testimony came from Larry Keefe, the governor’s public safety czar, who said DeSantis first asked him during a meeting last December if there were any Florida prosecutors who were not following the law. Keefe said the governor railed against “woke” prosecutors in other states.
Keefe talked to like-minded sheriffs, prosecutors and Republicans throughout the state, who all pointed to Warren. The state attorney’s decision in June to sign the abortion pledge sealed the decision to suspend him, DeSantis officials said.
But the judge noted that Keefe’s inquiries seemed one-sided. And early drafts of the suspension order contained references to George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist known for funding progressive prosecutors and liberal causes throughout the nation.
From DeSantis’ lawyers came assertions that Warren’s suspension was based on a legitimate concern that the state attorney was refusing to prosecute crimes related to abortion.
Ryan Newman, the governor’s general counsel, testified that he was initially skeptical of the need to remove Warren, but later became convinced that his actions amounted to a neglect of his duties as state attorney. Warren, Newman said, was “essentially inviting lawlessness.”
The governor’s staff later concluded that Warren’s policies of non-prosecution for certain offenses and cases arising from bicycle stops were unique in the state. And he was noted as being the only Florida prosecutor to have signed the abortion pledge.
A key moment in the trial was the testimony of Warren’s former chief of staff, who undercut his former boss when he said he believed the abortion statement was indeed the official office policy. Two other top prosecutors in Warren’s office testified that they believed the statement was not official policy.
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