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The system of checks and balances suffers again in Florida (Editorial)
Sun-Sentinel - Gift LinkThe Florida Supreme Court has set a terrifying precedent by upholding the suspension of Monique Worrell, the elected state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties.
Six of the seven justices declared themselves knowingly blind to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failure to cite legitimate grounds for suspending her last August. They ignored evidence that many of the allegations in his suspension order were based on incomplete or inaccurate information or were untrue. They refused to acknowledge that DeSantis simply opposes Worrell’s prosecution policies that she campaigned on — and that won her 65% of the vote.
The lone holdout was Justice Jorge Labarga, whose dissent questioned the fundamental lack of justice in DeSantis’ actions.
Suspending an elected constitutional officer is “an enormous undertaking that requires clear justification,” Labarga wrote. “At the very least, the official in question should be apprised of the specific allegations giving rise to the suspension to ensure an opportunity to mount a meaningful defense.”
Worrell had no such opportunity, he said.
But according to the majority opinion, that doesn’t matter. The law doesn’t matter. Facts don’t matter. Voters certainly don’t matter — they were mentioned only in a few footnotes. Instead, the court bowed slavishly at DeSantis’ feet: As long as he dots his I’s and crosses his T’s, he can suspend anyone he wants on any spurious grounds he likes, and nobody can stop him. This decision represents yet another breakdown in the system of checks and balances.
That is wrong — and Florida voters will have to make changes to restore justice to Florida’s justice system.
Six of the seven justices declared themselves knowingly blind to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failure to cite legitimate grounds for suspending her last August. They ignored evidence that many of the allegations in his suspension order were based on incomplete or inaccurate information or were untrue. They refused to acknowledge that DeSantis simply opposes Worrell’s prosecution policies that she campaigned on — and that won her 65% of the vote.
The lone holdout was Justice Jorge Labarga, whose dissent questioned the fundamental lack of justice in DeSantis’ actions.
Suspending an elected constitutional officer is “an enormous undertaking that requires clear justification,” Labarga wrote. “At the very least, the official in question should be apprised of the specific allegations giving rise to the suspension to ensure an opportunity to mount a meaningful defense.”
Worrell had no such opportunity, he said.
But according to the majority opinion, that doesn’t matter. The law doesn’t matter. Facts don’t matter. Voters certainly don’t matter — they were mentioned only in a few footnotes. Instead, the court bowed slavishly at DeSantis’ feet: As long as he dots his I’s and crosses his T’s, he can suspend anyone he wants on any spurious grounds he likes, and nobody can stop him. This decision represents yet another breakdown in the system of checks and balances.
That is wrong — and Florida voters will have to make changes to restore justice to Florida’s justice system.