Governor's Response To Lawsuit Called 'Poor Defense' By State Attorney

TAMPA, FL — Following Gov. Ron DeSantis' motion for the federal court to throw out a lawsuit against him filed by ousted Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, Warren is preparing to submit a response to the court by Friday.

On Friday evening, state Solicitor General Henry C. Whitaker filed a 39-page response to Warren's lawsuit on behalf of DeSantis.

In the motion for dismissal, Whitaker stated that Warren was “not suspended for the views he expressed but for the conduct he announced.”

“Mr. Warren had no First Amendment right, as a public official, to declare that he would not perform his duties under Florida law,” Whitaker wrote in the response submitted to federal court Judge Robert Hinkle, who is overseeing the lawsuit filed by Warren.

"At bottom, this case does not warrant federal court intervention in a quintessentially state matter: the governor’s constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and the state’s constitutional process for removing wayward officials who refuse to faithfully execute those laws,” Whitaker said in the motion.

Warren promptly replied, saying he was not impressed with DeSantis' legal arguments.

“This is a poor defense of an indefensible abuse of power," Warren said in a statement. "The fact that taxpayers continue to foot the bill for this makes it even more shameful.”

On Aug. 4, DeSantis issued an executive order of suspension removing Warren from his twice-elected position as the state attorney for Hillsborough County "due to neglect of duty, incompetence and willful defiance of his duties as early as June 2021 when he signed a joint statement with other elected prosecutors in support of gender-transition treatments for children and bathroom usage based on gender identity."

DeSantis also took Warren to task for signing a pledge not to prosecute doctors and women involved in abortions that violate the state’s 15-week ban, a ban that DeSantis championed and the 2022 Legislature passed.

Currently, there is no Florida law making gender-transition treatments illegal and Florida's 15-week abortion ban and Florida health care providers are seeking a review in the Florida Supreme Court of their challenge to the state’s ban.

See related stories:

• 183 Legal Scholars File Briefs Opposing Suspension Of State Attorney
• Lawsuit Filed Against DeSantis Over FL State Attorney's Ouster
• Ousted FL State Attorney Says He's Not Going Down Without A Fight
• Florida Senate Halts Effort To Oust Hillsborough State Attorney
• Ousted Prosecutor's Lawsuit Against DeSantis To Move Quickly

Calling DeSantis' suspension illegal, Warren filed a suit contending that his suspension violated his First Amendment rights and demanding that he be reinstated as state attorney.

DeSantis' response comes after three briefs were filed last week, signed by 183 legal experts, former Supreme Court justices and Florida constitutional scholars, confirming that DeSantis' suspension of Warren from office was illegal.

Included was a brief submitted by members of Florida's 1997-98 Constitution Revision Commission, who were responsible for amending the section of the Florida Constitution that DeSantis is now using as justification for removing Warren from office.

The commission members said "the governor's allegations against (Warren) are nowhere near sufficient" to meet the standards they laid out when they revised that portion of the constitution 25 years ago.

In his executive order, DeSantis claimed Warren's public opposition to his policies constitutes "neglect of duty" and "incompetence," two of the legal reasons under the state constitution for suspending an elected official from office.

The commission members said that claim is an overreach that flies in the face of the limited power they intended when they revised the constitution. They maintained that a difference of opinion does not meet the legal definition for either neglect of duty or incompetence.

"Andrew Warren exercised his First Amendment right to state opinions that are contrary to the governor’s opinions on several policy issues," the commission wrote. "The order does not even allege that Warren has acted on those opinions. Without such action, he cannot have committed one of the sins that would authorize the governor to suspend him under settled Florida constitutional law."

Hinkle has scheduled a Sept. 19 hearing in Tallahassee to hear arguments in the Warren lawsuit and make a decision.

In the meantime, the Republican-dominated Florida Senate is holding off affirming DeSantis' suspension of Warren until the lawsuit is settled.

The fact that the Senate hasn't officially affirmed or rescinded DeSantis' order as required by the state constitution puts the legality of decisions made by Susan Lopez, appointed by DeSantis to replace Warren as Hillsborough County state attorney, in question.