(CNN)When Governor Ron DeSantis abruptly suspended an elected prosecutor in Tampa last week , it was late and not achieved. - Overnight dismissal or filled at 5pm. Friday's press release. Rather, DeSantis summons reporters and cameras for midday media events, stands in front of uniformed cops several times a week to elect supporters, and gives twice-elected Democratic officials kneecaps. Indifferently explained his decision to put it on.
It was not only an amazing result, but also an impressive scene in the way it was choreographed. The event, as his publicist wrote on Twitter the night before, was planned to spark "the liberal media meltdown of the year." Pat Kemp, a Democrat on the local Hillsborough County Commission, described it as "our very own January 6th moment."
"DeSantis has a blank check," said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, a private school in Fort Lauderdale. "There is no part of the constitution that currently protects democracy, because his checks and balances are completely watered down. If he wins, he spins it out as a power of attorney, I would say, 'If the Floridians didn't like something,' I did, they would have voted for me."
justified Warren's dismissal as necessary to protect the people of Florida from elected officials. In two letters, Warren promised that prosecutors would exercise their discretion not to pursue people seeking abortion or gender-confirming care, and those who provide those services.
"This is not how the rule of law works. Ultimately, we cannot have a safe and strong community," he said.
His critics have lashed out at these decisive and controversial actions as an excess of his office. His two leading Democratic candidates for governor of Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Freed and Congressman Charlie Christ, likened DeSantis to a dictator after suspending Warren.
"Under the previous Republican governor, we expected policy to lean more conservatively," said House Majority Leader Fentris Driskel. "But this is not a conservative trend. This is a DeSantis trend. It's not what the party wants, it's what he wants."
"For the last two years of his life, the balance of power has been like this," said Republican Senator Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg. "I think we're keeping that trajectory."
Brandes is the rare Republican who has openly criticized his DeSantis, but he too is reaching his term limit this year. He left behind a much more conservative Congress than when he took office in 2012, leaving a Congress largely formed by DeSantis, who stepped into the Republican primary, and at times his party's legislative leader. Push your candidate over other candidates you prefer.
Whether DeSantis continues to amass power "will depend on whether the House, Senate, and courts consider themselves independent bodies there to provide checks and balances to the system." "We're doing it," he said Brandes. "If they forget it or believe it's not necessary, we go down one path. But only one of those groups stands up and says, 'We have a different point of view.' If you say "I have it," I think you'll see a different result.
The Florida Constitution gives the state Senate the power to reinstate Warren. Rep. Paul Renner, the presumed Speaker of the House in 2023, said in a series of informative posts that he praised DeSantis on Twitter minutes after suspending Warren, calling it a "decisive action." called.
"The Florida way puts public safety first," Renner wrote.
Warren vowed to file a legal challenge, claiming that DeSantis exceeded his constitutional authority. The case will likely end up before the state Supreme Court, a panel fully appointed by the Republican governor. On Friday, DeSantis named his fourth judge to the High Court. This means that the majority of the seven-man committee is due to his DeSantis.
Jarvis, who taught the Florida Constitution and wrote a textbook on the topic, said that legislators did not envision a DeSantis-type executive when drafting the latest version of the constitution in 1968. A government that gives powers within the legislature to overrule the governor in some respects, such as nomination, suspension, and executive oversight. They initially put considerable power in the hands of the Cabinet. The cabinet was his six independent, constitutionally elected state administrators, who served alongside the governors.
By means of these checks, the Constitution authorizes the Governor to authorize any officer elected for "misconduct, misconduct, dereliction of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform public duties, or having committed a felony." It also gave him surprising discretion to suspend him. The former governor has used his powers judiciously to remove elected officials accused of nefarious behavior and violations of local trust, says a former political science professor and leading Florida political history leader. One Susan McManus said:
But Warren was suspended not for what he did, but for what he suggested he would never do. If that's the criteria for dismissing someone, Jarvis said there was little to stop DeSantis from dismissing officials who disagreed. Socialist.
"This is sending a message to all other officers who are subject to his suspension powers: 'If you do not follow this policy or if I threaten you with political threats.' I will have no hesitation in suspending you if I deem you," Jarvis said. "And I know the Senate will remove you."[74][75]MacManus said his DeSantis in his second term faced new headwinds, or that he would face new headwinds from voters and fellow legislators. He said it was just speculation to speculate that he might or might not face a change of heart. There are polls that show a majority of voters fear the future of democracy, but they often clash with other polls that suggest crime remains the biggest problem in much of the country, she said. pointed out.
"It seems insurmountable now, but politics change, problems change," she said. "Things can change with the snap of your fingers."
