{"id":1375923,"date":"2023-12-06T22:07:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T22:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=454050"},"modified":"2023-12-06T22:07:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T22:07:17","slug":"desantis-lawyer-cant-name-a-single-policy-that-led-to-reform-prosecutors-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/12\/06\/desantis-lawyer-cant-name-a-single-policy-that-led-to-reform-prosecutors-suspension\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis Lawyer Can\u2019t Name a Single Policy That Led to Reform Prosecutor\u2019s Suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Florida Suprem<\/u>e<\/u> Court<\/span> on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case about Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s suspension earlier this summer of an elected Florida district attorney over allegations that she neglected her duties. State Attorney Monique Worrell, the suspended municipal prosecutor in Orange and Osceola counties, petitioned the court to reinstate her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the hearing, justices on the court vacillated between contradictory positions, arguing on the one hand that they weren\u2019t there to litigate the facts of DeSantis\u2019s claims against Worrell, and on the other suggesting that she neglected prosecutorial duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his remaking of Florida\u2019s government, DeSantis has stacked the court<\/a> with his allies and pressured it to enact his political agenda. For DeSantis, the court is yet another venue for expanding his authority<\/a> and fanning the flames of a right-wing culture war by attacking criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Worrell won election in 2020 with an overwhelming victory against a \u201claw-and-order\u201d opponent. She ran on addressing mass incarceration, restoring public trust in the office, and serving victims. DeSantis suspended Worrell in August, making her the second prosecutor he removed from office over political disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attacks on prosecutors have far-reaching implications for the future of the criminal justice system and how state lawmakers exercise their authority and undermine the will of voters who elected reformers, Worrell\u2019s attorney Laura Ferguson said during the arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a governor were able to remove a prosecutor of a different political party simply because they disagreed with their policies and categorize that as a neglect of duty or incompetence,\u201d Ferguson said, \u201cthen that will have a substantial chilling effect on how state attorneys perform their roles or their willingness to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In one exchange during the hearing, Ferguson said DeSantis\u2019s allegations<\/a> that the district attorney had \u201cpractices or policies\u201d to not prosecute certain categories of crimes were false and that she considered cases individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Charles Canady, whose wife is a DeSantis ally, interrupted Ferguson. \u201cThat\u2019s not what\u2019s alleged though,\u201d Canady said. \u201cWhat\u2019s alleged, to kind of sum it up, is that she has policies that under-prosecute certain categories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe order infers and speculates about policies,\u201d Ferguson said in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt makes assertions, it makes allegations,\u201d Canady replied. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to prove it.\u201d He said a trial in the Florida Senate over Worrell\u2019s removal \u2014 on hold because of the Supreme Court challenge \u2014 would adjudicate those claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attempt to remove elected prosecutors in Florida is part of a nationwide trend of Republicans looking to gain favor with the electorate through punitive, though potentially anti-democratic, policies. At least 17 states<\/a> have launched similar efforts to curb the rise of reform-minded prosecutors who won office in increasing numbers since the mid-2010s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Georgia\u2019s Supreme Court blocked<\/a> an effort by Republican lawmakers who sought to use a new state law to oust the prosecutor<\/a> who indicted former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to winning the office, Worrell had worked under outgoing State Attorney Aramis Ayala<\/a>. Ayala \u2014 a prosecutor who, like Worrell, is a Black woman \u2014 fell victim to the growing push<\/a> to oust or limit the authority of elected reformers when former Florida Gov. Rick Scott removed her for refusing to seek the death penalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Monique\n
Monique Worrell holds a press conference outside her former office in the Orange County Courthouse complex on Aug. 9, 2023, in Florida.Photo: Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/Orlando Sentinel\/Tribune News Service via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Monique Worrell v. Ron D. DeSantis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis said he suspended Worrell for incompetence and \u201cneglecting her duty to faithfully prosecute crime.\u201d He appointed retired Judge Andrew Bain, a Federalist Society member, to replace her. A year earlier, DeSantis suspended<\/a> Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren after he said he would not charge people who sought abortions under the state\u2019s new abortion ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspensions are widely seen as part of DeSantis\u2019s effort to remake the state and its criminal justice system in his own image and to his political advantage \u2014 a remaking that extends all the way up to the Supreme Court<\/a>. The conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo aided DeSantis\u2019s efforts on the courts by leading a secret panel of advisers to vet the judicial nominees before they take office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis has also worked to bring justices who took the bench prior to his term into his fold. Canady\u2019s wife, Jennifer, for instance, was elected last year to the Florida House. She has emerged as a close DeSantis ally in the legislature, co-sponsoring his signature six-week abortion ban. She is already in line<\/a> to be the next speaker, with DeSantis\u2019s help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The governor has also been accused of orchestrating a \u201cjudicial gerrymander.\u201d His allies in the Florida House requested that the court consider a plan to redraw and consolidate judicial districts; the court created a commission to do so in June. Worrell\u2019s reelection chances, for example, would be severely impacted in a proposed redrawn district that waters down the progressive vote. The project would also advance DeSantis\u2019s political agenda: His office worked behind the scenes with police to tarnish the reputations of both Worrell and Warren, the Daily Beast reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle for the independence of the judiciary was on full display during Wednesday\u2019s hearing. Worrell\u2019s attorney argued that DeSantis had exceeded his constitutional authority in suspending her without specifying acts in which Worrell had neglected her prosecutorial duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order does not list examples of policies that neglect prosecutorial duty, Ferguson argued: \u201cIt just speculates that because she ran on a particular platform, she must have certain policies. They can\u2019t identify a single policy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe order talks about how her office \u2018discourages,\u2019 which doesn\u2019t sound like a policy. It talks about \u2018practices,\u2019 but can\u2019t identify a single example.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a governor who has used his suspension order with great frequency and in an unprecedented way and targeted those of a different political party.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis\u2019s lawyer argued that Worrell\u2019s petition was not justiciable, meaning it referred to matters outside the court\u2019s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Justice Carlos Mu\u00f1iz asked if the governor\u2019s office planned to specify policies and practices that proved neglect. DeSantis\u2019s lawyer said the governor\u2019s office had authority to remove a prosecutor if it could only show they weren\u2019t effective at prosecuting crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worrell\u2019s record on prison admission was \u201cabysmal,\u201d the DeSantis lawyer said. Even if she had no specific objectionable policies, such data would be grounds to remove her. \u201cIf there was nothing specific she was doing, she just was just not effective at prosecuting crime, we think that that would be enough,\u201d he argued. But that was not a question for the high court to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s remarkable that the governor\u2019s lead argument is that this court cannot review whether his order is constitutional,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cThis is a governor who has used his suspension order with great frequency and in an unprecedented way and targeted those of a different political party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post DeSantis Lawyer Can\u2019t Name a Single Policy That Led to Reform Prosecutor\u2019s Suspension<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on The Intercept<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In state Supreme Court, ousted DA Monique Worrell fought Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019s attempt to turn Florida\u2019s justice system into a partisan cudgel.<\/p>\n

The post DeSantis Lawyer Can\u2019t Name a Single Policy That Led to Reform Prosecutor\u2019s Suspension<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1375923"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1389536,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1375923\/revisions\/1389536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1375923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1375923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1375923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}