DeSantis Suspends Leftist State Attorney For Refusing To Enforce Laws On Abortion, Trans Surgery For Kids

On Thursday, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that “effective immediately,” he is suspending leftist State Attorney Andrew Warren for refusing to do his job by upholding the state’s laws. DeSantis has appointed Hillsborough County Judge Susan Lopez to serve as Acting State Attorney during Warren’s suspension.

“State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” DeSantis said in a statement. “It is my duty to hold Florida’s elected officials to the highest standards for the people of Florida. I have the utmost trust that Judge Susan Lopez will lead the office through this transition and faithfully uphold the rule of law.”

As explained in a press release from DeSantis’ office, Warren was suspended for “neglect of duty… The Governor has the authority under the Florida Constitution to suspend state officials for reasons of misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony. The Governor has further authority to fill that office by appointment for the duration of the suspension.”

Lopez, who will now be serving as Acting State Attorney, said that she has “the utmost respect for our state laws and I understand the important role that the State Attorney plays in ensuring the safety of our community and the enforcement of our laws.”

As noted by DeSantis’ order suspending Warren and appointing Lopez, “Warren demonstrated his incompetence and willful defiance of his duties as a state attorney 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.”

Warren’s statement said, “[W]e pledge to use our discretion and not promote the criminalization of genderaffirming healthcare or transgender people.”

“Bills that criminalize safe and crucial medical treatments or the mere public existence of trans people do not promote public safety, community trust, or fiscal responsibility. They serve no legitimate purpose. As such, we pledge to use our settled discretion and limited resources on enforcement of laws that will not erode the safety and well-being of our community. And we do not support the use of scarce criminal justice and law enforcement resources on criminalization of doctors who offer medically necessary, safe, gender-affirming care to trans youth, parents who safeguard their child’s health and wellbeing by seeking out such treatments, or any individuals who use facilities aligned with their gender identity,” it added. “We are committed to ending this deeply disturbing and destructive criminalization of gender-affirming healthcare and transgender people.”