Monique Worrell, the former Orange-Osceola state attorney, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking the Florida Supreme Court to reverse his order removing her from office.
Worrell is accusing DeSantis of citing vague allegations against her in his case for her suspension, which has rattled community organizers and people in the legal community who rallied Tuesday, calling the governor’s action “unconstitutional” at a series of press conferences in Orange County, Tampa and Miami.
DeSantis’ suspension of Worrell follows a string of criticism from law enforcement leaders accusing her of not prosecuting crime aggressively enough.
Filed Wednesday, the lawsuit claims the executive order fails to identify any conduct by Worrell that would support suspension and counters data cited in the executive order as evidence of “neglect of duty” or “incompetence” while she was serving at the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
After filing lawsuit, Worrell calls suspension by DeSantis ‘his latest abuse of power’
On Aug. 9, DeSantis replaced her with Orange County Judge Andrew Bain, who is a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.
Worrell is the second Democratic state attorney suspended by DeSantis. Last summer, the governor suspended Andrew Warren, a twice-elected state attorney for Hillsborough County, who pledged not to prosecute doctors who provide abortions.
In the lawsuit, Worrell attempts to set her case apart from executive orders issued against Warren and her predecessor, Aramis Ayala, who in 2017 found herself in a feud with then-Gov. Rick Scott over her opposition to seeking the death penalty in all cases.
In Worrell’s case, the lawsuit says the governor has not alleged any practice or policy that could constitute a refusal to exercise prosecutorial discretion.
“The order vaguely refers to Ms. Worrell’s ‘practices and policies’ throughout but notably fails to identify a single, specific policy or practice, making the order distinguishable from recent cases involving other Florida state attorneys, where the executive orders identified specific policies alleged to constitute a neglect of duty,” the lawsuit reads.
Much of the scrutiny Worrell faced followed several high-profile shootings in Orange County, including one in Pine Hills that resulted in the killings of three people, including a child and a TV news reporter.
Worrell seeks that DeSantis restore her to the position with back pay. It goes on to say the court must end the “arbitrary, unsubstantiated exercise of the suspension power.”
“The constitution requires that the suspension order allege facts that constitute a legitimate basis for suspension,” the lawsuit says. “If simply claiming the official has ‘practices and policies’ that constitute neglect of duty and incompetence were sufficient, any governor could suspend any state official.”
The governor’s office did not respond to a request seeking comment.
arabines@orlandosentinel.com
