- Oct 17, 2011
- 33,599
- 36,918
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
DeSantis said he was removing Monique Worrell of Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit for “neglect of duty and incompetence” and accused her of pursuing lenient sentences and declining to prosecute certain charges.
DeSantis was joined at the news conference by two local sheriffs – neither of which serves a county that overlaps with Worrell’s jurisdiction. They used their time at the microphone to heap praise on the governor as a law and order leader.
The Florida constitution allows a governor to remove an elected official for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.” No previous Florida executive has interpreted that power as broadly as DeSantis. The state Senate can reinstate Worrell, but the chamber is controlled by Republicans closely aligned with DeSantis and have rarely stood in his way.
In 2020, Worrell won a contested Democratic primary to become the party’s nominee for state attorney serving Orange and Osceola counties. She was elected that fall with 66% of the vote in a deeply blue part of the state.
At Wednesday’s news conference, DeSantis and others pointed to heinous crimes from the past year allegedly committed by people with previous charges.
--
The first democratically elected state attorney that DeSantis removed was Andrew Warren. He has been suing to reverse the decision. A federal court said there was no federal remedy; he is appealing. He also applied to the Florida Supreme Court, but they said he had waited too long, so no soap.
DeSantis was joined at the news conference by two local sheriffs – neither of which serves a county that overlaps with Worrell’s jurisdiction. They used their time at the microphone to heap praise on the governor as a law and order leader.
The Florida constitution allows a governor to remove an elected official for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.” No previous Florida executive has interpreted that power as broadly as DeSantis. The state Senate can reinstate Worrell, but the chamber is controlled by Republicans closely aligned with DeSantis and have rarely stood in his way.
In 2020, Worrell won a contested Democratic primary to become the party’s nominee for state attorney serving Orange and Osceola counties. She was elected that fall with 66% of the vote in a deeply blue part of the state.
At Wednesday’s news conference, DeSantis and others pointed to heinous crimes from the past year allegedly committed by people with previous charges.
--
The first democratically elected state attorney that DeSantis removed was Andrew Warren. He has been suing to reverse the decision. A federal court said there was no federal remedy; he is appealing. He also applied to the Florida Supreme Court, but they said he had waited too long, so no soap.