Thread by @davidrlurie

As the judge explained, DeSantis won his case against Andrew Warren because the governor lied about his reasons for firing the prosecutor. 1/

https://twitter.com/AndrewWarrenFL/status/1616557556066930705

DeSantis claimed that he fired Warren because the prosecutor had supposedly adopted a blanket policy not to prosecute certain types of criminal cases. But Warren had not adopted any such policy, as the governor knew or should have known. But .... 2/

the judge found that DeSantis's actual, unstated and unadmitted, purpose in firing Warren was to gain political points for firing a "reform" prosecutor, regardless of how effective that prosecutor was, and regardless of the will of the voters who elected him. 3/

A governor targeting and removing an elected prosecutor on policy grounds is, as the judge explained, a clear violation of the Florida Constitution, thus explaining what DeSantis has lied about his actual motive for removing Warren. 4/

But the 11th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, as it has been construed by the Supreme Court, did not allow the federal court hearing the case to order DeSantis to reinstate Warren on the ground of the governor's violation of the Florida Constitution. 5/

Furthermore, unlike the Florida Constitution, the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit a governor from targeting a local elected official on account of his reasonably held -- and voter endorsed -- law enforcement policies, as DeSantis did. Accordingly the judge reasoned .... 6/

he was compelled to rule in DeSantis's favor, despite the fact that DeSantis actual purpose was so problematic that DeSantis will not even admit it. 7/

Additionally, the Court found that DeSantis also targeted Warren for certain First Amendment protected speech contained in a statement he signed onto related to reproductive rights and the targeting of transgender persons. 8/

But while such retaliation against a public official for First Amendment protected speech violates the U.S. Constitution, that was another violation without a remedy in federal court, the Judge ruled. This was because, as explained, the Judge ... 9/

reasoned -- even if Warren had not made the statements DeSantis didn't like -- the governor would nonetheless have fired the prosecutor for the heinous, but federally permissible, reason that he did not like Warren's law enforcement policies. 10/

In sum, DeSantis got away with firing Warren for a reason that is so problematic he won't admit it. and that violates state law. DeSantis, of course, is touting his "victory." 11/11