Appeals court bashes Gov. DeSantis’ Andrew Warren suspension

Ron DeSantis, Andrew Warren. Image via AP.

Andrew Warren, the suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney, could have a pathway to get his job back, one day after he said he wouldn’t campaign for the office again.

The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court erred in its analysis of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to suspend Warren. The lower court ruled DeSantis violated Warren’s First Amendment rights but still would’ve suspended him for other reasons not related to those violations and stopped short of reinstating him.

The appellate court ruling also doesn’t reinstate Warren outright, but remands the case back to the lower court in Tallahassee while also placing the burden DeSantis to show he would’ve suspended him for reasons that didn’t violate Warren’s First Amendment rights. It’s unclear, though, how soon the lower court will act.

“This is what we’ve been fighting for from the beginning — the protection of democracy,” Warren said in a released statement following the ruling. “We look forward to returning to the District Court to obtain the relief that has been denied to me and all the voters of Hillsborough County for 17 months: reinstating the person elected by the voters.”

Throughout the ruling, written by Judge Jill Pryor — an appointee of President Barack Obama — for a unanimous three-judge panel, the court chided DeSantis’ decision to suspend Warren and the process behind it.

DeSantis suspended Warren in August 2022 based on Warren’s decision to sign two policy statements pledging not to prosecute abortion-related offenses and a possible ban transgender health care, as well as his office policies not to prosecute noncriminal bike and pedestrian violations or other “low-level” offenses that only had a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail.

“DeSantis’s political benefit was solely derived from Warren’s political ideology,” Pryor wrote. “The First Amendment prevents DeSantis from identifying a reform prosecutor and then suspending him to garner political benefit. On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren’s actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren.”

“Voters elected Warren; DeSantis did not appoint him,” she added. “If alignment with DeSantis’s political preferences were an appropriate requirement to perform the state attorney’s duties, there would be little point in local elections open to candidates across the political spectrum.”

In a footnote, Pryor also noted that federal courts have the authority to reinstate Warren, contradicting an argument from DeSantis.

“DeSantis argues that even if Warren prevails on the merits of his claim, the district court lacks the authority to reinstate Warren,” the ruling states. “We reject this argument. The Eleventh Amendment permits federal courts to remedy First Amendment violations.”

Warren, who was twice elected by Hillsborough voters, said Tuesday he wouldn’t run for the State Attorney office a third time, reasoning that DeSantis could just suspend him again if he won. DeSantis appointed Suzy Lopez to replace Warren and she currently serves in that office.

An email seeking comment from a DeSantis spokesman wasn’t immediately returned.

In a concurring opinion, Judge Kevin Newsom — appointed by President Donald Trump — further scolded DeSantis for violating Warren’s First Amendment rights.

“Bottom line: The Supreme Court has made clear — for reasons that cut to the core of our representative democracy — that the First Amendment safeguards elected officials’ right to express their views on salient political issues,” Newsom wrote. “Whatever one thinks of Warren’s particular views about abortion, he is no less entitled to that protection.”