The law is what it is. If a liberal state prosecutor won’t uphold the ones already on paper, they are especially useless. Controversially conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis totally freaked out Democrats on Thursday by telling Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren to clean out his desk and go home. He’s under suspension until he can be formally removed from office.
Put himself above the law, publicly
Not only did Andrew Warren put himself above the law, he dared to do it publicly. Governor DeSantis didn’t appreciate that one bit. Warren’s replacement has already been named.
He sealed his fate with a batch of letters he signed “saying he would not enforce laws prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors or laws limiting abortion.” That’s not how it is supposed to work and it won’t fly in Florida. “Our government is a government of laws, not a government of men,” DeSantis firmly declared.
The liberal media is shocked speechless. Local Tampa news notes, the “suspension, which stunned observers, removed one of the state’s most outspoken prosecutors.” Obviously, he’s a Democrat.
This is the first step to return to the rule of law. Ignoring crime for some and selectively enforcing it for others is corruption. Go @RonDeSantisFL !! https://t.co/9oLfGYufmL
— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) August 4, 2022
This can’t be about enforcement of the law. Oh, no. It must be a personal vendetta waged by the governor. The prosecutor who won’t prosecute has also been “a frequent critic of DeSantis.” Back in 2021 he called the “anti-riot” bill favored by DeSantis “a misguided solution in search of a problem.” Election security? Why would we need any of that?
The one who was really stunned is Warren. On August 4, he “was escorted out of his office.” That blew a big hole in his appointment calendar. “In the afternoon, he was set to host a news conference about a ‘major development‘ related to the case of Robert DuBoise, who was exonerated in 2020 after serving 37 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.”
DeSantis had his office cancel the event and that solved that problem. The prosecutor really should be focused on the law breakers of today if he expects to justify the check he cashes.
Warren can appeal
Being an experienced attorney, Warren is well aware he has the option, under the law, to appeal his termination. Whether he decides to exercise that option is something he’ll have to consider carefully.
He can’t be reached for comment, the news outlets note, probably because he’s gone somewhere to be alone with a fifth of something potent and chart his future course. He needs to figure out a way to rely on the laws to justify ignoring the laws. That, he reconsiders with another stop at the liquor store, might just require a quart.
Meanwhile, back at the podium, Governor DeSantis explained to the progressive press that his “decision to suspend Warren began when he noticed prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco selectively enforcing crimes.”
The first thing he did was ask his staff to look into it and “make sure that was not going to happen here.” That’s how he found out the rule of law already was being ignored. “After his staff spoke with police and prosecutors, Warren’s name repeatedly came up.”
DeSantis spoke passionately about how it “all came back to this area here, in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. And the response that we got was a lot of frustration on the part of law enforcement for criminals being let go and crimes not being prosecuted.”
You either have laws or you have criminals. It’s one or the other and Warren refused to accept that fact of life. Maybe he’ll have better luck as a prosecutor in a liberal jurisdiction.