(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DeSantis suspends elected state prosecutor; cites refusal to enforce abortion, transgender laws [1] ['Michael Moline', 'More From Author', '- August'] Date: 2022-08-04 Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended elected Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, accusing him of nullifying state laws through refusal to prosecute violent offenders and to enforce criminal penalties against doctors providing abortions or gender-affirming care. In Warren’s place, the governor named Hillsborough County Judge Susan Lopez to serve pending a vote by the Florida Senate about whether to permanently remove Warren from office. Among other complaints, the governor’s executive order suspending Warren cites his signature on a letter in June 2021 along with other elected prosecutors across the country “to use our discretion and not promote the criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare or transgender people.” Florida doesn’t have a law doing that but DeSantis has been moving in that direction. The governor also claimed that Warren is on record as refusing to enforce laws against abortion. The state has a 15-week abortion ban in place. Reaction was swift from Democrats and progressive organizations. “The people of Hillsborough elected Andrew Warren not once, but twice, because of his commitment to safety and justice for all people. This action by Gov. DeSantis is that of a wannabe dictator who puts partisan politics first. He doesn’t give a damn about women or average Floridians. It’s a flagrant abuse of power,” U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist said in a written statement. Crist is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who also is a gubernatorial candidate, called the ouster “a politically motivated attack on a universally respected state attorney democratically elected to exercise prosecutorial discretion. “Ron DeSantis is a pathetic bully. He’s doing this because he wants to be dictator, not a governor of Florida. That’s not how this works, though. This will backfire. We just saw it in Kansas. Florida is a pro-choice, pro-democracy state. If this stands, the people of Florida will put an end to it in November.” DeSantis argued he had no choice. “We really believe that this is a law-and-order state. We are not going to back down from that one inch. We are not going to allow locally elected people to veto what our state has decreed through our legislative process,” the governor said during a news conference at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office packed with political supporters. “This is important. We’ve seen how this has impacted communities all cross the country in a very negative way. And, at the end of the day, when you take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, you must take care that our laws are faithfully executed. And that will start happening in Hillsborough County beginning today,” he added. Reminded by a reporter that Warren had twice been elected by the voters, DeSantis replied that the prosecutor’s conduct had fallen below the standard demanded by the Florida Constitution. More to come… [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/08/04/desantis-suspends-elected-state-prosecutor-cites-refusal-to-enforce-abortion-transgender-laws/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/