Andrew Warren’s Legal Battle Against DeSantis Ends with Appeals Court Shocking Verdict

The legal battle between Andrew Warren and Governor Ron DeSantis is over. An appeals court decided Friday that the former Hillsborough state attorney’s elected term has finished, so he may no longer contest his 2022 suspension from office. The decision was made by the same three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal that had mostly supported Warren’s request to regain his employment a year prior. Warren might be reinstated after the panel questioned the governor’s move, but the matter was still pending as the judges decided whether to send it to the full appeals court.

Meanwhile, Warren’s reelection campaign was unsuccessful. The court’s judgment said, “We cannot grant Warren any meaningful relief on appeal in this case in which he effectively seeks his reinstatement to office because his term of office has ended.” Warren had maintained that since the same thing might occur again, the case should go on. That argument was rejected by the court. They reasoned that Warren would need to seek for public office again, win, and then be suspended once more in order for that to occur. The judge concluded, “Warren has established no reasonable expectation of these events occurring.”

Warren further contended that he would be eligible for back pay for the entire period he was out of office if he were to win his case. However, the judges were once more unconvinced, concluding that he could only get back pay if he were to resume office. The panel directed U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle to dismiss the case and returned it to his court. “Justice postponed is justice denied, as everyone is aware,” Warren said in a statement on Friday. “This decision embarrasses our justice system, as it should embarrass everyone who upholds the rule of law and the American values we instill in our children.”

In August 2022, DeSantis suspended Warren from his elected role as Hillsborough County’s chief prosecutor. Warren inked agreements with other prosecutors across the country promising not to prosecute instances involving abortion or gender-affirming care, which the governor cited. Warren’s measures that dissuaded the prosecution of some low-level, nonviolent crimes were also criticized by DeSantis. Suzy Lopez, a veteran Hillsborough prosecutor, was chosen by the governor to succeed Warren. Warren, a progressive Democrat, claimed that the conservative Republican governor’s suspension was political vengeance. He filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis.

In an opinion that was mainly in Warren’s favor at the beginning of 2023, Hinkle concluded that the governor had violated both the state constitution and his First Amendment rights. However, the judge came to the conclusion that he could not legally reinstate Warren. The appeal followed. Judges Jill Pryor, Kevin Newsom, and Anne Conway gave a detailed legal analysis of Hinkle’s arguments following months of litigation, directing him to reevaluate. However, the case remained in limbo until Friday. Warren pleaded with the court to move quickly, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Warren asked voters for their approval.

In what some saw as a referendum on the suspension, he and Lopez faced off in the 2024 election. With the support of DeSantis and his political associates, Lopez’s campaign received millions of dollars in donations, much exceeding Warren’s. Warren received 47% of the vote, while Lopez received almost 52%. Earlier this week, Lopez took the oath of office for a four-year term. Warren’s lawyer, J. Cabou, issued a statement saying, “The decision today that his case is now moot because the Court itself allowed the clock to run out is a sledgehammer not only to the First Amendment but to the rule of law, at a time when our nation urgently needs unfractured confidence in both.”