DeSantis' ouster of state attorney to be reviewed by court, while Trump plots own revenge

TALLAHASSEE – With Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump turning attacks on prosecutors into a central part of his campaign, his nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, faces a pivotal moment of his own after punishing an elected state attorney.

Monique Worrell, removed by DeSantis in August as prosecutor for Orange and Osceola counties, goes Wednesday before the Florida Supreme Court in a bid to get her job back.

The only elected Black state attorney in Florida, Worrell was ousted for what the governor said was her “political agenda.”

He accused Worrell of being “fundamentally derelict” in her job and tried to make his case by citing records showing that a number of gun criminals, drug-traffickers and other offenders received reduced sentences or had charges lessened or dismissed in her Central Florida circuit.

She was the second elected Democratic state attorney suspended by DeSantis. Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren is still appealing in federal court his ouster last year over what DeSantis viewed as his progressive political stance.

Warren was removed after joining with more than 80 prosecutors around the country signing a pledge that they would not prosecute people who seek or provide abortions or transgender health care.

DeSantis sought out prosecutors ripe for removal

Records show Warren was suspended after DeSantis had directed staff to search for prosecutors who could be portrayed as going easy on criminals.

DeSantis has touted his removal of Warren and Worrell repeatedly during his flagging presidential campaign, most recently during Thursday’s Fox News debate with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Worrell, in her filings with the Florida Supreme Court, says DeSantis is acting outside the law.

“The suspension power is not a limitless 'take my word for it' license for the governor to suspend anyone with whom the governor has a policy dispute,” attorneys for Worrell told justices in her petition for reinstatement.

They added that DeSantis’s action “creates uncertainty for any elected official, particularly state attorneys, as to how their conduct might lead to suspension and potential removal from office.”

Ouster over policy means, 'Katie bar the door'

Dave Aronberg, one of only four Democrats still serving as prosecutors across Florida’s 20 judicial circuits, agreed.

“He removed her over policy differences. When you start down that road, it’s Katie bar the door,” Aronberg said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center also filed a federal lawsuit Thursday in Orlando challenging DeSantis’ suspension of Worrell, claiming it violates the constitutional rights of the voters who elected her.

DeSantis, in his now longshot White House campaign, where he has fallen far behind Trump, promotes Florida as a “law and order” state.

Trump also has demonized prosecutors he didn’t agree with and has proved particularly vicious toward those who have filed criminal charges against him in Georgia, New York, Washington, D.C., and Florida.

He’s promised, if elected next year, to conduct “sweeping civil rights investigations” into local district attorneys’ offices, mostly in Democratic cities.

Trump has fanned claims that people, like himself, are being targeted merely for their conservative ideas, although he does face 91 felony counts for a range of alleged criminal offenses.

Trump promises investigations of prosecutors

Trump earlier this year in Manchester, New Hampshire, pledged, “On day one of my new administration, I will direct the (U.S. Department of Justice) to investigate every radical district attorney and attorney general in America for their illegal, racist ... enforcement of the law.”

While scores of analysts warn that the language used by Trump and DeSantis’s actions defy the long-established rule of law and democracy, they’re seen as appealing to the Republican voting base.

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“In Trump’s case, it reinforces his arguments about all this being a ‘witch hunt,’ ” said Michael Binder, a political scientist and pollster at the University of North Florida. “DeSantis is a different story, going after prosecutors on policy grounds. That’s an entirely different motive, but they both potentially play well with a Republican primary electorate, which is all that matters for both guys.”

In his own filings with the Supreme Court, where he has appointed five of the seven justices who will hear Worrell’s case, DeSantis defended her removal as part of his “constitutional responsibility.”

“She did not fulfill that public trust,” lawyers for the governor wrote of Worrell, elected in 2020 with 67% of the vote in Orange and Osceola counties.

“Instead, Ms. Worrell adopted practices and policies that seriously impeded the pursuit of justice and thwarted the will of the Legislature,” they wrote. “Gov. Ron DeSantis therefore carried out his constitutional responsibility – entrusted to him by all the people of Florida – to suspend her for neglect of duty and incompetence.”

Crime down in Central Florida circuit

Worrell has countered that crime had decreased in her circuit during her two-and-a-half years in office.

But she drew fire from Central Florida law enforcement and seemed to catch DeSantis’ eye after declining to bring more serious charges following several high-profile shootings and other violent crimes.

Three months before her removal, Worrell accused DeSantis of pursuing “this witch-hunt to establish a basis for the removal of another duly-elected prosecutor,” when she learned that a Central Florida Republican Party official had sought prosecution data from her office regarding human-trafficking cases.

DeSantis replaced Worrell with Andrew Bain, an Orange County judge. But Worrell said she plans on running for reelection next year.

Warren who is also considering running again for his old job, fought back with a federal lawsuit, challenging his removal. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in January ruled his suspension violated the Florida Constitution and U.S. Constitution.

Hinkle, however, said he lacked the authority to reinstate the prosecutor, a decision Warren is now appealing.

When Worrell was removed by DeSantis, Warren called it “another illegal and unconstitutional attack on democracy by a small, scared man who is desperate to save his political career.”

Binder said justices may be wary about endorsing DeSantis’ move in the Worrell case.

“Members of the judiciary do hold the judiciary to a different standard than the political process,” he said. “Viewing a political intrusion like this, it’s possible they might say, ‘Hey, with threats like this, maybe he comes after us next.’ ”

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Courts: Trump and DeSantis target prosecutors, rattling rule of law