TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren brought his case for reinstatement before a federal appeals court in Alabama Tuesday.
A federal district Judge in Tallahassee ruled in January that the suspension was a violation of the Florida Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, but he stopped short of giving Warren his job back because he said he lacked the authority to reverse the actions of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“I believe with every fiber of my being in fighting for our freedoms, our democracy, and the rule of law—and that’s what this fight is about. From the beginning, we’ve believed that the law is on our side, and we hope that the court sees it this way,” Warren said in a recorded video message after the hearing.
There were no real surprises during the hour hearing before a three-judge panel in the Montgomery, Alabama courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
“Once a governor has cause, I think he has substantial discretion to consider a variety of factors in a suspension,” said Florida Solicitor General Henry Whitaker said on behalf of the governor.
“(The governor) didn’t really care what those policies were. He wanted to take down a “woke” prosecutor and that was the pretext that would allow him to do it,” Warren’s attorney David O’Neil said.
At a news conference with local law enforcement in August, DeSantis announced Warren’s suspension, citing incompetence and neglect of duty.
“The governor suspended Mr. Warren for the abortion statement, for his abortion pledge, his pledge not to prosecute abortion crimes and because of the bike and low level offense policies,” Whitaker told the three-judge panel.
Warren’s attorney reiterated the argument that the suspension was not based on the prosecutor’s conduct, but rather the governor targeted Warren for expressing views that don’t align with his political ideology.
“So we think it correctly described that the governor was motivated by the political benefit he thought he would get from taking down someone with Mr. Warren’s viewpoints, and on the basis of his speech,” O’Neil said of the lower court’s ruling.
There is no timetable for when the three-judge panel will issue its ruling in the case.
Warren is also taking his case for reinstatement as state attorney to the Florida Supreme Court in a different lawsuit.