Judge Criticizes DeSantis But Doesn’t Reinstate Suspended Prosecutor

Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren addresses the media after learning he was suspended of his duties by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2022. Octavio Jones/Reuters

A federal judge on Jan. 20 declined to reinstate a Tampa-area prosecutor suspended in August 2022 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Federal Judge Robert L. Hinkle criticized DeSantis throughout a 59-page opinion, saying the governor’s office investigation of suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren was politically motivated and cursory, and the official doing it didn’t even take notes. Hinkle detailed that Warren’s declarations that he wouldn’t enforce certain laws were not, in fact, “blanket prohibitions” against doing so.