By Jamiles Lartey, Photo: Thomas Simonetti/The Washington Post/Getty Images, The Marshall Project, August 20, 2022
Prosecutors have a tremendous amount of discretion around the criminal charges they do and — just as importantly — do not pursue. This has been an animating principle behind the rise of the so-called progressive prosecutor movement, and now some conservative opponents are targeting that discretion in a bid to shut the movement down.
The most extreme example comes from Hillsborough County, Florida, home to Tampa. Earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren, arguing that Warren was neglecting his duty to enforce the law.
DeSantis noted that Warren was among several prosecutors nationwide who signed a letter opposing state laws seeking to criminalize transgender people in 2021. Despite the fact that Florida currently has no such laws, DeSantis argued that “these statements prove that Warren thinks he has the authority to defy the Florida Legislature” and ignore laws he disagrees with. DeSantis made the same point about a similar letter Warren signed on the criminalization of abortion this summer.
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