The Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to remove a Soros-backed prosecutor on Thursday.
DeSantis had suspended State Attorney Monique Worrel in August 2023, accusing her of "dereliction of duty" when it comes to crime. Worrel sued for reinstatement, arguing her removal was an "arbitrary, unsubstantiated exercise of the suspension power." Thursday's 6-1 ruling shut down her plans.
"We cannot agree with Worrel that the allegations in the Executive Order are impermissibly vague, nor that they address conduct that falls within the lawful exercise of prosecutorial discretion," the opinion read.
"We have said that a suspension order does not infringe on a state attorney’s lawful exercise of prosecutorial discretion where it alleges that such discretion is, in fact, not being exercised in individual cases but, rather, that generalized policies have resulted in categorical enforcement practices," the majority opinion reads.
DeSantis touted Worrel's removal in a press conference last year as he was running for president.
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"The practices and policies of her office have allowed murderers, other violent offenders, and dangerous drug traffickers to receive extremely reduced sentences and escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct. In some cases, these offenders have evaded incarceration altogether," DeSantis said at the time.
"State Attorney Worrel’s practices undermine Florida law and endanger the safety, security, and welfare of the communities that Ms. Worrell was elected to serve," he added.
Worrel had enjoyed support during her 2020 campaign from Our Vote Our Voice, an organization that received $1 million from the George Soros-backed group Democracy Now, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Our Vote Our Voice spent $1.5 million in support of Worrel, according to the Sentinel.
Worrel was the second Florida prosecutor to face DeSantis' wrath. He also suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren in August 2022 for refusing to enforce the state's abortion ban. That decision was upheld in federal court.
Thursday's ruling comes weeks after a federal judge blocked part of DeSantis' illegal immigration bill from taking effect. The law, which DeSantis signed in 2023, in part amends human smuggling statutes to make it a felony to bring individuals without lawful immigration status into Florida.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman issued a temporary injunction against that provision and in his decision cited testimony from plaintiffs that they were "now too afraid to travel in and out of Florida with their undocumented friends or family members – for fear of being arrested or prosecuted or of having their family members deported."
