TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, who Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended, gave notice Tuesday that he plans to appeal the federal court decision in his lawsuit against the governor.
Warren lost at the district court level before Judge Robert Hinkle. He had filed suit after Governor DeSantis suspended him.
Warren was removed from office last year over the elected prosecutor’s signing of statements that said he would not pursue criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender transition treatments, as well as policies about not charging people with some minor crimes.
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In testimony before Judge Hinkle, Warren argued that he was suspended over his personal political positions on abortion and transgender issues. He said his office applied prosecutorial discretion over whether to bring charges in all cases, considering public safety and other matters.
Judge Hinkle's decision largely sided with Warren's arguments but found that the case is effectively a state matter that a federal judge cannot resolve.
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended elected State Attorney Andrew H. Warren, ostensibly on the ground that Mr. Warren had blanket policies not to prosecute certain kinds of cases. The allegation was false," Hinkle wrote. “Mr. Warren’s well-established policy, followed in every case by every prosecutor in the office, was to exercise prosecutorial discretion at every stage of every case.”
He added: “But the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a federal court from awarding declaratory or injunctive relief of the kind at issue against a state official based only on a violation of state law.”
Warren likely faces an uphill battle before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which has multiple judges appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump.
A three-judge panel will first hear Warren's appeal. If he loses before the panel, he can either request an en banc hearing before all of the judges of the 11th Circuit, or ask the Supreme Court to take up the case.
