In an unprecedented move in, no pun intended, in August of this year, Der Future possible Republican presidential frontrunner—Non DeSantis—removed a Black woman, who is also a Democrat, Monique Worrell, from her ELECTED position as state attorney for the ninth judicial circuit, something that he can technically do, because well he did, but has major implications if rightfully elected officials can be removed from office simply because they are at the whim of their despotic boss, who just happens to be in a much higher ranking political position.
Why are we here?
— Equal Ground (@EqualGroundFL) December 6, 2023
The people voted to elect Attorney #MoniqueWorrell as the state attorney. The baseless removal of her from her office is an attack on our right to elect those who will serve us well. #FlSupremeCourt #OurVoteOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/68lfH7JtRz
Ronald DeSantis has done some pretty despicable things in his not-too-short but far-too-long political career. Even though he is Ivy League educated in law, many of his political actions have been in direct conflict with the Constitution (which is ironic because he is running on a platform of getting back to the original interpretation of that document), most specifically the First Amendment. His “Don’t Say Gay” and the “Stop W.O.K.E.” acts essentially ban teachers from mentioning anything that has to do with sexuality and ban curriculum from classrooms that effectively teach about slavery and the racism that Black people have endured in this country. Both acts were met with significant pushback from Disney and Florida public universities’ staff members, respectively.
When you factor in his penchant for bending the rules to his whims and fancies, DeSantis’ removal of a rightfully elected official simply because he did not like the job she was doing does not seem farfetched. Worrell was elected with 67% of the vote as the state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, which house Orlando and its surrounding communities. DeSantis’ reasoning for her removal was that she neglected her duties and put communities at risk through policies that helped criminals evade punishment. The same DeSantis that let grandmas die in nursing homes during the height of Covid….allegedly.
Monique Worrell was elected state attorney for Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit.
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) December 6, 2023
On Aug. 9, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order suspending Worrell from her position.
The SPLC is challenging Florida Gov. DeSantis’s suspension of Worrell.https://t.co/ayEmJaEBsW pic.twitter.com/VkNxEaPerl
In Florida Supreme Court arguments in front of a conservative bench, Jeffrey DeSousa, attorney for DeSantis, argued that she displayed “gross underperformance of her office relative to all other state attorneys in the state.” He continued his justification of injustice by remarking, “100% of the prison admissions statewide, she was at 38% of those. That really is an abysmal record.” He admits that he was full of sh*t because how is having over a third of all prosecutions for the state an abysmal record when the ninth judicial circuit is not even the largest in the state?
He added, “If we had nothing else, if there was nothing specific she was doing, she just was not effective at prosecuting crime. We think that would be enough.”
Congratulations Judge Andrew Bain on your appointment by Governor DeSantis as Florida prosecutor! ???? pic.twitter.com/VXjxmXugig
— Chris Nelson ???????? ???? (@ReOpenChris) August 9, 2023
It is pretty important to have a specific reason when you are firing someone. Worrell’s response to DeSousa’s accusation is, “As state attorney, I do not have a duty to maximize incarceration rates. I have a duty only to seek justice and I am proud to say that the 2 ½ years of my tenure, that is exactly what we did.” It is important to mention that Florida, as well as other states, has provisions written in contracts with private prisons that the state must maintain a prison population of at least 90%. If the state fails to provide enough inmates to achieve this quota, they are still required to pay. I guess it is all about locking people up and throwing away the key.
DeSantis appointed Black conservative federalist Andrew Bain in her place.
The same Andrew Bain who canceled diversion plans almost immediately after taking office in August and who, according to a report previously published in the Orlando Sentinel, received “low marks in a judicial qualifications poll by the Central Florida Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.” Ron DeSantis is smart, but that does not mean other people are stupid. It is obvious that he replaced Worrell with a conservative Black man in order to avoid being accused of racism.
If you give a job to an eager house n*gga, they can’t accuse you of being a bad master.
