Ousted Hillsborough State Attorney Takes Case To FL Supreme Court

TAMPA, FL ? Following Tuesday?s appeal in federal court, ousted Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew is now petitioning Florida?s Supreme Court to reinstate him as the county's top prosecutor.

Warren made the announcement Thursday morning, saying he has filed a lawsuit asking the state?s highest court to reinstate him to office following a federal court?s finding last month that Gov. Ron DeSantis broke state and federal law by suspending Warren in August.

In the federal case, Warren won on the merits but was DeSantis denied the reinstatement he is now seeking through the state court system.

Thursday's lawsuit marks the next steps in Warren?s ongoing legal battle with the governor over free speech, prosecutorial discretion and the rights of voters to choose elected officials.

Warren filed a petition for a writ of quo warranto ? Latin for ?by what authority? ? challenging the legality of DeSantis?s decision to suspend Warren from office, and for a writ of mandamus that would order the governor to comply with the law and reinstate twice-elected Hillsborough County state attorney.

Following a three-day trial in November, on Jan. 20, the federal court agreed that DeSantis had violated both state and federal law in suspending Warren but concluded that it lacked the jurisdiction to reinstate him.

That decision by Judge Robert Hinkle in the Northern District of Florida found that DeSantis broke federal law by suspending Warren in retaliation for the Democratic state attorney's stance against the governor's actions to limit abortions and gender identity surgery for minors, which the judge found violated Warren?s First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Hinkle also concluded that DeSantis violated the Florida Constitution because his motivation in suspending Warren was to bring down a reform prosecutor and replace him with a Republican state attorney. Hillsborough County Judge Susan Lopez was sworn into the position the same day Warren was dismissed.

After a five-month vacancy, DeSantis appointed Richard Martin to fill Lopez' vacancy on the Hillsborough County Court.

Prior to her appointment as judge by DeSantis in December 2021, Lopez, 45, served as an assistant county attorney. She's never been elected to office.

In asking the Florida Supreme Court for relief, Warren?s filing lays out many of the same legal and arguments on which the federal court already ruled in his favor: DeSantis?s allegations against Warren were incorrect and concealed a political motivation; the suspension violated the Florida and United States Constitutions; and through the illegal suspension, the governor usurped the will of the people to elect their chosen official.

"After a thorough review of the facts and the law, a federal court found that the governor broke both Florida and U.S. laws and illegally suspended me. We're asking the Florida Supreme Court to affirm that finding and instruct the governor to follow the law and reinstate me to office. We're asking them to reiterate that no one is above the law?not even the governor,? Warren said.

In a statement to Patch, DeSantis' press secretary, Bryan Griffin, said, "Andrew Warren, of all people, should understand the distinction between legal dicta and the holding of a court?s decision. The failures that motivated the suspension were Mr. Warren?s actual performance?not advocacy?as a reform prosecutor."

See related stories:

• Ousted Hillsborough State Attorney Appeals To Courts For Reinstatement
• Andrew Warren Asks Gov. DeSantis To Reinstate Him As State Attorney
• Judge Says DeSantis Illegally Suspended Hillsborough State Attorney
• DeSantis Seeks To Avoid Giving Deposition In Andrew Warren Lawsuit
• DeSantis Must Testify In Andrew Warren's Lawsuit Following Suspension
• Nov. 29 Trial Set In Ousted State Attorney's Suit Against DeSantis
• Lawsuit Filed Against DeSantis Over FL State Attorney's Ouster
• 183 Legal Scholars File Briefs Opposing Suspension Of State Attorney

Griffifn said, when Warren signed a letter written by state attorneys around the country declaring that they would not prosecute doctors who perform abortions or women who have abortions, "Mr. Warren signed a statement refusing to prosecute the laws of the land. Thus, the governor removed Mr. Warren for neglect of duty and incompetence. Public prosecutors cannot pick and choose which laws to enforce."

Griffin said it's the Florida Senate, not the courts, that is responsible for determining if Warren is guilty of neglect of duty and incompetence, something the Senate has so far declined to decide.

"In its lengthy opinion, the court attempted to usurp the Florida Senate?s constitutional authority to make a determination on Mr. Warren?s neglect of duty and incompetence," Griffin said. "It is the Florida Senate that is to rightly serve as the ultimate factfinder in this case."

He added that DeSantis does not agree with "the court?s dicta, which are merely opinions, and need not address them since the court ultimately determined it lacked jurisdiction and thus ruled in favor of the governor. Mr. Warren remains suspended from the office he failed to serve."

While Warren established a legal fund to help defray the costs of the litigation, the governor?s office spent nearly $2 million of taxpayer money defending the federal lawsuit. It is unclear at this time how much additional taxpayer money the governor will spend in the Florida Supreme Court to continue defending his actions.