Court Rules DeSantis Violated First Amendment in Prosecutor Suspension

The U.S. Court of Appeals vacates previous decision, directing reconsideration of Andrew Warren's suspension.

An appellate court ruled that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the First Amendment by suspending Democratic prosecutor Andrew Warren for his own political gain.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated a previous decision from a federal judge who claimed he did not have the power to reinstate Warren and directed the judge to reconsider his ruling.
DeSantis suspended Warren in 2022 for his policies that created the presumption that certain low-level offenses and cases over noncriminal bike and pedestrian violations would not be prosecuted.
The appellate court directed the U.S. District Court to consider whether DeSantis would have suspended Warren based solely on Warren’s performance and the two office policies.
After DeSantis suspended Warren, he appointed political ally Suzy Lopez, who is now running for a full term.