Gov. DeSantis suspends State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, citing neglect of duty

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On Wednesday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he will be suspending State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, citing neglect of duty.

DeSantis made the announcement, saying Worrell's criminal justice administration has been, "clearly and fundamentally derelict, so as to constitute neglect of duty and incompetence."

There are two reasons why previous Florida GOP governors usually did not act against derelict local and state officials.

First, the Florida Senate can reinstate suspended officials. Only after the last election did Florida Republicans gain the two thirds supermajority that lets them run roughshod over the Democrats. That makes it possible to resolutely back up a GOP governor in suspension and removal cases.

Second, only recently, with Soros money and clout and the leftward drift of the Democrat party, were several wretchedly and intentionally bad Democrat state attorneys elected. A key influence for the suspension of Worrell is the local police union, which was furious about two cops being shot in Orlando a few days ago by a criminal who ought to have been denied bail if Worrell's office had done a proper job.

Under the Clinton era political formula, Democrats avoided getting cross-wise with the police or public safety. Now though, the police and public safety are lesser concerns for Democrats than catering to Black Lives Mater and other racial grievance organizations. That was how Worrell got elected.

I don’t know how many other states allow that, but apparently New York does. Andrew Giuliani was promising to fire NY DA Bragg, if he was elected governor. Lee Zeldin picked up on the idea once he won the nomination, promising to fire Bragg once in office. According to Rudy Giuliani, the governor even has the power to remove a mayor.

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/03/rudy-giuliani-alvin-bragg

Thanks for the information. This was a good move by DeSantis. It sounds like he was more than justified in removing her. It’s good to have a GOP super majority to uphold it.

FWIW, here’s an excerpt from the article.:

Democratic Rep. Anna V. Eskamani responded on Twitter to Worrell’s suspension:

“This is absolutely disgusting — State Attorney Monique Worrell is a duly elected official and the only Black woman serving as State Attorney in Florida right now. Her removal is a complete slap in the face to Orange and Osceola County residents and another example of Governor DeSantis eroding our local control and democracy. This politically motivated action by the Governor in a predominantly democratic part of the state should alarm everyone. DeSantis is extreme, unfit to serve, and must be held accountable.”

Alas, I reside in Orange County and Eskamani is my State Rep. In a sense she is correct in that there is a philosophical tension between having locally elected public officials and a governor with the power to suspend them.

Where Eskamai is wrong is on the facts of this suspension and in that, even as voters elect a state attorney based in part on their representations as to how they will do the job, they also elect a governor knowing that he has the power of suspending such officials for dereliction of duty. And the Florida Senate -- forty elected officials with a wide range of experience -- provide a check on the governor.

I know of a case some years ago in which a Florida Democratic governor removed a Republican supervisor of election who had botched an election. Remarkably, a then Democratic Senate reinstated him on the basis that no misconduct was shown and that the remedy was in the hands of the voters, who defeated him at the next election.

The unfortunate GOP supervisor had the benefit of highly effective, behind the scenes pro bono lobbying from two Democratic former state supreme court justices who acted solely from principle. I knew one of them and the GOP supervisor quite well. The two former supreme court justices genuinely and correctly thought the supervisor had been railroaded.

Will State Attorney Worrell find relief from the Florida Senate? It is possible in concept but unlikely. Worrell has been a mess as the State Attorney, combining incompetence, racism, and neglect of duty. Officially, her neglect of duty is the basis for suspension. Her local allies will try to whip up indignation but I anticipate that the effort will fall flat, even among most blacks. After all, blacks too are crime victims and cops more than criminals.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.