TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida prosecutor suspended by Governor Ron DeSantis opened his federal civil lawsuit against the governor on Tuesday with testimony alleging his impeachment was based on his personal political stances on abortion and transgender rights .
Andrew Warren, a Democrat suspended from his twice-elected position as Hillsborough County state’s attorney, sued DeSantis for reinstatement.
DeSantis suspended Warren on the prosecutor signing statements saying he would not pursue criminal charges s against applicants or providers of abortion or gender transition treatmentas well as its policy of not charging people with certain minor offences.
Warren was the first witness in the case before U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee, where the Democrat spent most of his testimony arguing that he was fired for exercising his freedom of speech on abortion and transgender healthcare.
“As a district attorney, I think it’s important for me to speak up,” he said.
The suspension came as DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential nominee, joined a wave of Republican opposition to progressive prosecutors who exercise discretion over whether to charge people with what they consider as low level crimes.
Warren was elected in 2016 and 2020 as district attorney for Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa. He said he believed DeSantis was subverting the will of voters by removing him from office.
“There is so much more at stake than my job. We’re not just fighting for me to do the job I was elected to do,” Warren said before the hearing began. “We are fighting for the right of voters across Florida to have the elected officials of their choice.”
In an executive order, DeSantis cited Warren signing statements about not prosecuting crimes related to abortion or gender transitioning treatments. More than 90 district attorneys, state attorneys general and other elected prosecutors across the United States have signed a letter saying they do not intend to prosecute anyone for seeking, providing or supporting abortions. Dozens of prosecutors and law enforcement officials also signed the letter opposing the criminalization of gender transitioning treatment.
Florida has a 15-week abortion ban came into force this year. The state has no law criminalizing gender transitioning treatments. Warren said her office has not received any criminal referrals related to the new abortion law or gender transition treatments.
The governor argued that Warren was seeking to choose which laws to apply, citing in his executive order the non-prosecution of crimes such as “trespassing into a place of business, disorderly conduct, disorderly intoxication and prostitution.” . Warren disputed that, saying his office applies prosecutors’ discretion on whether to press charges in all cases, given public safety concerns and other issues.
Lawyers for DeSantis said Warren could not sue for free speech because his signing of the statements amounted to official prosecutorial positions. George Levesque, an attorney representing the governor, said Warren’s actions amounted to a functional veto of state law, pointing to Warren’s signing of the abortion letter.
“He made a commitment not to apply the law,” Lévesque told the judge.
The use of prosecutorial discretion by elected progressives across the country, typically with respect to low-level crimes, has caused a setback in recent years.
In San Francisco, June voters recalled Chesa Boudin, a former court-appointed attorney who was elected district attorney in 2019 on a criminal justice reform platform. Boudin has been criticized for rising crime after refusing to prosecute most drug-related offenses. A similar effort to recall the Los Angeles District Attorney failed to collect enough signatures this year.
The first day of Warren’s trial also detailed the rushed process of physically removing Warren from office.
Warren testified that he first learned of his suspension via email and was then quickly met in his office by an official from the governor’s office and two sheriff’s deputies who escorted him out. He said he hadn’t had time to retrieve his belongings from his office.
