Suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren wins appeal, hopes to get case expedited
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — There’s a new twist in the legal battle between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren.
The twice-elected county prosecutor now has another chance to get his job back, just a few days after announcing he would not seek reelection.
Andrew Warren appeals suspension to Florida Supreme Court
Let’s take you back to last May when DeSantis kicked off his presidential campaign in Iowa.
DeSantis touted his suspension of Warren for refusing to uphold laws, including Florida’s restrictions on abortion.
“I removed him from his post,” he exclaimed. “He is gone.”
So, Gov. DeSantis replaced Warren with former county judge Susan Lopez.
“I was asked to bring this office back to basics,” she said back in August.
Warren sued, claiming the suspension violated his freedom of speech and cannot be the basis for his removal.
About a year ago, a judge ruled DeSantis broke state law but that the federal court didn’t have the authority to act.
So, Warren appealed.
In the midst of a long legal battle, he made a major announcement on Monday.
“Ron DeSantis broke our democracy, and it’s fragile, too important to let him do it again,” Warren said in a video released Monday. “So, I’ll take one for the team and not run as I continue to challenge the illegal suspension in court and fight to serve out my term on behalf of the community, who re-elected me.”
‘This is not over’: Here’s why a federal judge won’t reinstate suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren
But two days later, he ended up winning that appeal, which means Warren will have another chance to get his job back––after announcing just days ago he would not seek reelection.
The court concluded, “We vacate and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. On remand, the district court should reexamine whether DeSantis would have suspended Warren-based solely on the unprotected activities that motivated the suspension: Warren’s performance, his Low-Level Offense Policy, and his Bike Policy.”
You can read the full opinion below.
Warren-Appeal-DocumentDownload
Warren released a statement Wednesday saying, “This is what we’ve been fighting for from the beginning—the protection of democracy.”
“We look forward to returning to the District Court to obtain the relief that has been denied to me and all the voters of Hillsborough County for 17 months: reinstating the person elected by the voters,” he continued.
One of Warren’s lead attorneys, J Cabou, said, “The appellate court found that the First Amendment protects the rights of elected officials to share their views and opinions on important issues with voters.”
“That’s what State Attorney Warren did,” Cabou continued. “Further, the appellate court reiterated that the voters elected Mr. Warren to his post, and if alignment with the Governor’s political ideology is a prerequisite for holding elected office that there would be no point in having elections at all.”
So what happens next?
Election law expert Ciara Torres-Spelliscy said the case now heads back to the district court, where a judge must rule if the suspension was based on issues with Warren’s performance in office, not just his political advocacy.
Video shows horrifying moment Brightline train collided with SUV in Florida
“If the district court agrees that this was purely motivated by disagreements over abortion policy, well, that is not enough to fire a civil servant like Andrew Warren,” she explained.
Torres-Spelliscy said Wednesday’s decision sets a precedent, sending a clear message that elected prosecutors have First Amendment rights, too.
“They can have opinions on issues of the day and that’s not a fireable offense,” she said.
Torres-Spelliscy spoke on Warren’s original suspension, saying, “I think the chilling effect the firing of Andrew Warren had was it made it look like unless you were lock-step with everything Ron DeSantis believed, you weren’t welcomed to even be elected to a position of state attorney and that was a horrible message to send.”
The Governor’s Office sent the following statement to 8 On Your Side:
“A state prosecutor’s declared commitment to not enforce the laws of this state is not protected by the U.S. Constitution. The federal appeals court is flat wrong to have concluded otherwise. It’s disappointing that a federal appellate court would excuse such a blatant violation of that prosecutor’s oath to defend Florida law. The court’s decision is also an egregious encroachment on state sovereignty. Governor DeSantis used his authority under the state constitution to suspend this prosecutor from office, and the authority to remove lies with the Florida Senate. It’s inappropriate for a federal court to intervene in this matter. This decision sets a dangerous precedent, and it will empower the chaos we see across the United States as politically motivated prosecutors will continue to ignore criminal laws they don’t like and put our communities at risk. We are still looking over the decision, but we will ensure that Florida’s sovereignty and constitution are respected.”
Jeremy Redfern, Press Secretary
As of the time this article was written, Lopez continues to hold the position of state attorney for Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit.
Her office sent the following statement to 8 On Your Side Thursday.
“State Attorney Lopez has been in court all morning and will spend the afternoon speaking to the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Association. She is busy doing the important job of keeping this community safe and will continue to do so. The litigation about the suspended State Attorney will work through the court system, but she is singularly focused on enhancing public safety in Hillsborough County.”
Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit
At the time this article was written, it remained unclear if Warren would standby his decision not to run for re-election.
Warren’s lawyers filed a motion to expedite issuance of mandate Wednesday evening, reading in part:
“Time is of the essence in resolving this dispute. As a result of Governor DeSantis’s illegal suspension of Mr. Warren, the voters of Hillsborough County have been deprived of the official whom they selected as State Attorney. An election involving millions of Floridians has been nullified. Mr. Warren, meanwhile, has been unable to serve in his post. One year remains in Mr. Warren’s term, and it should not be consumed by unnecessary delays in legal
proceedings. The urgency is all the greater now because resolution of this case will also impact the next election for State Attorney later this year. Mr. Warren’s decision about whether to run for reelection as State Attorney depends in significant part on the outcome of this litigation. He announced mere days ago that he would not seek reelection because of the possibility that, until his suspension is invalidated, Governor DeSantis would simply suspend him again on the same grounds.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
