(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . State opposes Warren’s request for speedy end to his fight for reinstatement as prosecutor [1] ['Michael Moline', 'More From Author', '- January'] Date: 2024-01-18 Lawyers for the DeSantis administration are fighting Andrew Warren’s request that a federal appeals court rush a retrial into whether the governor improperly suspended Warren as twice-elected state attorney for Hillsborough County, in Tampa Bay. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled on Jan. 10 that Gov. Ron DeSantis violated Warren’s First Amendment rights as an elected official to opine on areas of policy, including his approach to any alleged crimes involving abortion access or transgender rights. The panel ordered U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee to reconsider his conclusion that, although DeSantis punished Warren to boost his campaign for president, he as a judge lacked authority to reinstate Warren to his office. DeSantis has the option of asking for an en banc hearing before the Eleventh Circuit, meaning before all 21 judges who sit on that court and can override the three-judge panel. A pleading filed Wednesday by the office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody suggests the governor will take that step and even appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. “In no event should the court issue the mandate before the en banc and [U.S.] Supreme Court process has played out,” the document insists. Lawyers for the state and for Warren disagree about how long the governor has to seek a full-court review: the former argue he has 21 days from the time of the ruling; the latter, only 14 days. The state argues the three-judge panel got the wrong law, taking away DeSantis’ option to head off official misconduct before it can cause any damage, and offering worst-case scenarios. “Yet under the panel opinion, the state may not suspend an elections supervisor who swears he will not administer the next election, remove a prison warden who says he will soon let the prisoners go free, or fire a school bus driver who promises to show up drunk for work tomorrow,” the state brief reads. Earlier, attorneys for Warren urged the three-judge panel to expedite issuance of its “mandate,” meaning delivery of the order that Hinkle reconsider his ruling, arguing that “time is of the essence” because Warren’s suspension negated the will of the voters who elected him. “The urgency is all the greater now because resolution of this case will also impact the next election for state attorney later this year,” Warren’s brief argues. “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, Gov. DeSantis would simply suspend him again on the same grounds,” it continues. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/18/state-opposes-warrens-request-for-speedy-end-to-his-fight-for-reinstatement-as-prosecutor/ 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/