Florida Supreme Court hears arguments in Worrell v. DeSantis lawsuit over ouster

1 year ago 311

No ruling will be made Wednesday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments in former Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell’s lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over her ouster.

Worrell was elected in 2020 and got suspended Aug. 9 of this year in an executive order signed by DeSantis, who went on to replace the state attorney with Orange County Judge Andrew Bain.

DeSantis and fellow state leaders have accused Worrell of avoiding issuing minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug trafficking offenses, of following patterns or practices allowing juvenile offenders to avoid incarceration and avoiding valid or applicable sentencing enhancements, among some other claims, altogether calling Ninth Circuit justice a “coin flip” during her tenure.

The former Orange-Osceola state attorney filed a petition in September with the Florida Supreme Court to challenge DeSantis’ suspension and get her job back, disputing the governor’s allegations. Last month, Worrell held a news conference in Orlando to share her enthusiasm for Wednesday morning’s oral arguments, comparing Florida to the famous Boiling Frog Experiment as a way to dress DeSantis’ actions as those of authoritarianism abetted by collective complacency.

“Violent crime and shootings have not stopped since my suspension, and law enforcement continues to report that crime is at an all-time low, as it was under my administration. This is authoritarianism, plain and simple. Although it is becoming more frequent, it is not normal,” Worrell said in November. “If you place a frog in hot water, he’ll jump out, but if you place them in cold water and gradually increase the temperature, he’ll be unaware of the danger that he’s experiencing and in that manner he can be boiled to death. That is exactly what’s happening to our democracy. It is being boiled to death.”

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Both sides will have 20 minutes each on Wednesday to lay out their case to the state justices. No ruling will be made Wednesday and a written response is pending the court event, which is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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