When Political Beliefs Impact Executive Privileges - The Unconstitutional Suspension of Florida Prosecutor, Andrew Warren.

On June 24, 2022, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis restated his intention to prosecute those who participate in abortions in accordance with the 15-week abortion ban legislation he passed in April earlier that year. In response to this decision, local Florida prosecutor Andrew Warren made a public statement, along with approximately 90 other prosecutors nationwide, detailing his intention to safeguard both patients and doctors seeking and providing abortion services. On August 4, Governor Desantis suspended Warren on the grounds of his participation in said statement through an executive order.

In his suspension order, Desantis cited Florida Constitution article IV, section 7(a), under which governors have the authority to suspend state officials for “neglect of duty” or “incompetence,” among other criteria. Following his suspension, Warren filed a complaint against DeSantis on August 17, 2022 claiming that Governor Desantis’ order violated his first amendment rights. 

On January 20th, 2023, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle dismissed Warren’s case, stating that, as a federal Judge, he does not have the authority to reinstate Warren to a state office under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, Judge Hinkle confirmed that DeSantis’s suspension of Warren violated his 1st Amendment rights on both the federal and state level. Judge Hinkle also cited other justifications for Warren’s suspension that directly violate Florida’s state constitution. In a written order, Judge Hinkle declared that “a governor cannot properly suspend a state attorney based on policy differences.”
Following the decision, Warren continued to voice his disapproval with DeSantis and referred to his initial suspension as a ploy "in the pursuit of politics" rather than justice. DeSantis' decision to announce Warren's suspension during a campaign-like rally and later attack "woke ideology," along with his established history as a member of the GOP's more conservative coalition, appear to further evidence Warren's claim.

While it has proven difficult to identify a singular and exact definition DeSantis assigns to “woke” and “woke ideology,” in recent years, he has employed the term “woke” to describe corporate actions, such as the NCCA’s refusal to hold events in states that passed Anti-Trans legislation and Disney’s opposition to a Florida law that prohibits classroom discussion and instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for young children. DeSantis has proposed and championed several legislative efforts to address this “woke ideology,” including the "Stop The Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act". This legislative proposal is designed to provide Florida’s “businesses, employees, children and families tools to fight back against woke indoctrination.” When DeSantis introduced this legislation in December 2021, he also claimed that wokeness is a "form of cultural Marxism" and an “attempt to really delegitimize our history and to delegitimize our institutions.”

Rejecting “woke ideology” is of the utmost importance to DeSantis and his supporters. Further, DeSantis’s continued efforts to demonize and discredit “woke ideology” is integral to his political campaign. For example, following his reelection last November, DeSantis utilized his victory speech to reinforce his commitment to fighting against woke ideology, asserting “We fight the woke in the legislature. We fight the woke in the schools . . . Florida is where the woke goes to die.”

On Thursday, February 16, 2023, less than a month after Judge Hinkle’s decision, Warren announced that he had initiated a lawsuit in the Florida Supreme Court under the confirmed violation of his 1st Amendment Rights. However, unlike Federal Judge Hinkle, if the Florida Supreme Court were to find Warren’s case viable, they have the power to order Gov. DeSantis to rescind and overturn his suspension of the state attorney. 

Andrew Warren became the Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney in 2017, and was re-elected in 2020. Warren was publicly elected in two general elections. Thus, it should be up to the jurisdiction of Florida voters to decide whether Warren should maintain his position. Since, this issue centrally revolves around the authoritative power that governor DeSantis holds, it is important to consider the precedent that will exist if Warren is not reinstated. A failure to reinstate Warren endorses DeSantis’s ability to exercise executive powers even if they violate an individual's constitutional rights. 

Haley Joyce is a senior concentrating in International Public Affairs and Sociology at Brown University. She is a Staff Writer for the BULR Blog and plans to pursue a law degree. Haley can be reached at Haley_Joyce@brown.edu.