Judge says DeSantis violated 1st Amendment, but upholds suspension of 'woke' prosecutor

A federal judge has ruled that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not overstep his authority when he suspended a state prosecutor whom DeSantis viewed as "woke."

A federal judge has ruled that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not overstep his authority when he suspended a state prosecutor whom DeSantis viewed as "woke" -- but in doing so condemned the governor for violating the prosecutor's right to free speech.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued the ruling Friday, several weeks after a trial in the case featured testimony from some of Desantis' top aides.

At issue was the true motivation behind DeSantis' suspension of Andrew Warren, a Democrat who was reelected in 2020 as the top state prosecutor in Tampa and surrounding Hillsborough County after running on a platform of criminal justice reform.

MORE: Florida governor suspends local prosecutor who said he won't criminalize abortion

According to DeSantis' executive order suspending Warren in August, the state attorney demonstrated "incomPetence and willful defiance of his duties" by implementing certain "policies of presumptive non-enforcement" and by co-signing a left-leaning advocacy group's public statements about state laws criminalizing gender-affirming care and abortions.

In his order on Friday, Hinkle wrote that "[DeSantis] violated the First Amendment by considering Mr. Warren's speech on matters of public concern" and his "association with the Democratic Party ... as motivating factors in the decision. But the Governor would have made the same decision anyway, even without considering these things."

PHOTO: Suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren (center) arrives at U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Fla., with his legal team, including David O’Neil (left), on Dec. 1, 2022.
Suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren (center) arrives at U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Fla., with his legal team, including David O’Neil (left), on Dec. 1, 2022.
ABC News

Hinkle added that, while DeSantis was wrong to dismiss Warren, it was not within the court's power to reinstate him, and thus ruled in favor of the governor.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade last year, Warren joined more than 80 local, elected prosecutors from around the country in signing a statement saying, "[We] commit to exercise our well-settled discretion and refrain from prosecuting those who seek, provide, or support abortions."

The top lawyer in the Florida governor's office, general counsel Ryan Newman, testified during the trial that any "reasonable person" would view the statements Warren signed as "a pledge," making Warren's suspension not only warranted but lawful under Florida state law.

MORE: Federal judge to decide if DeSantis unlawfully suspended 'woke' Florida prosecutor

However Warren disputed that the statements reflected any type of policy or pledge, testifying that he signed them because he "agreed with the general idea" behind them.

An attorney for Warren, David O'Neil, told Hinkle that Warren's suspension was a "political hit job," targeting his rights to free speech.

"Mr. Warren was suspended from his office because of what he said and what he believed," O'Neil said.

In his federal lawsuit filed in August, Warren asked a judge to have him reinstated as state attorney.

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