Gov. Ron Desantis recently made the boss move of suspending a State Attorney who signed a pledge to not enforce Florida’s abortion and childhood transgender transition laws. Andrew Warren now promises to defy DeSantis by promising to continue his work.
That happened on CBS News, with Warren accusing his state’s abortion law of being “unconstitutional” while slamming DeSantis.
Warren: “The governor’s abortion ban is unconstitutional. “So, it is me who upholds the law.” pic.twitter.com/PyKWQvim4v
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 5, 2022
On Thursday, I did a write-up on Warren’s initial reaction, predicting that he’d be on CNN soon. Okay, so I might have been wrong, but it is still the same. This liberal media loves to make DeSantis look like a fascist because he dares to function within the current law structure. Warren is the kind of foil that they are desperately seeking. How good of one he’ll be is yet to be seen.
If this appearance is any indication, though, I don’t think he’s going to be much of a match for the Florida governor. Claiming that a run-of-the-mill 15-week abortion ban is “unconstitutional” is ludicrous. Just a few days ago, the Supreme Court handed the power to make such laws to states. Even if the law is unconstitutional it can still be ruled by courts. It is not the job of a state attorney to decide unilaterally that he doesn’t like a law and won’t enforce it. This is authoritarian.
Warren also makes the claim that he was “elected” and therefore DeSantis doesn’t have the power to suspend him. Below Florida law, that’s false. Sunshine State is unlike many states in that it allows its governor the power to suspend or discipline any local elected officials that are found either incapable of performing their duties properly, or who have been found deficient. There is no ambiguity in DeSantis’ power to do so.
As to Warren’s threat that he’ll continue to do his job, I’d love to see him try. He was physically removed from his office by the police, who already showed up. A governor’s order also requires that another attorney from the state fulfill his obligations. Warren has no access, physically or legally, to continue doing his job, and if he continues to play with fire, he’s going to end up getting arrested, which may be what he wants. I’m sure that would get him a lot more TV news hits.
But unlike other Republicans, DeSantis relishes in these kinds of fights, and he’s not going to back down. In fact, I’m sure he’d love for Warren to show up for work and test his patience.
About Post Author
