Florida Supreme Court upholds DeSantis suspension of Monique Worrell
Orlando Sentinel - Gift Link
The Florida Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in an opinion released Thursday against suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell in her attempt to get her job back.
The court said Gov. Ron DeSantis had the authority to remove her for incompetence and neglect of duty.
The majority opinion, signed by Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans and Meredith Sasso, said there was sufficient basis for Worrells suspension. This is despite her objections that the claims against her that she didnt more aggressively prosecute accused gun and drug traffickers and serious youth offenders were vague.
We cannot agree with Worrell that the allegations in the Executive Order are impermissibly vague, nor that they address conduct that falls within the lawful exercise of prosecutorial discretion, read the opinion.
While the ruling pointed out specific claims in the executive order suspending her and in oral arguments made in December by DeSantis attorneys, parsing the validity of the specific claims, the majority argued, is the job of the Florida Senate, which holds a Republican supermajority.
Justice Jorge Labarga, the sole dissenter, countered that voters in Orange and Osceola counties overwhelmingly voted to entrust her with the specific challenges and circumstances posed by her diverse circuit in dealing with specific cases. That argument was rejected by the majority.