When taking stock of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ troubles, it’s easy to start with his faltering presidential campaign. Making matters worse, however, is the Florida Republican’s legal setbacks, which aren’t doing his candidacy any favors. The New York Times reported:
Dealing a blow to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a federal court of appeals on Wednesday ruled that he had violated First Amendment protections when he suspended a progressive state prosecutor for political gain. The ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, undercut Mr. DeSantis on an episode he has made a key credential in his presidential campaign.
It’s been a while since we last explored this in detail, so let’s revisit our earlier coverage and review how we arrived at this point.
In August 2022, the Republican governor suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, complaining that the local prosecutor wasn’t prosecuting the kind of culture war cases DeSantis wanted to see.
A Tampa Bay Times report noted at the time that DeSantis’ order suspending the state attorney did not cite “any specific examples of Warren not prosecuting individual cases, pointing instead to Warren’s public comments on abortion, transgender issues and office policies Warren has adopted.”
The newspaper’s editorial board added that the governor’s move was “politically craven, legally suspect, suspiciously timed and odorously soaked in autocracy, partisanship and bad faith.” Under a headline that reminded DeSantis that he isn’t “the king of Florida,” the Times went on to characterize the suspension as a “gross abuse of power.”
The criticisms were well grounded. DeSantis had already been accused of authoritarian pursuits, and this didn’t help matters. The people of Hillsborough County elected Warren more than once. The governor could’ve tried to help elect a rival candidate in the next election, but instead, DeSantis took it upon himself to suspend the prosecutor and…
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