Originally published August 9, 2023 8:00 pm PDT
The attorney allowed “violent criminals to escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct,” according to a press release.
QUICK FACTS:
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell of the 9th Judicial Circuit, citing “neglect of duty” and “incompetence.”
- Worrell was backed by a group connected to Democrat megadonor George Soros.
- Under Worrell, violent criminals, drug traffickers, and others received reduced sentences, thus endangering civilians.
- DeSantis appointed former judge Andrew Bain to replace Worrell during her suspension.
- “It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” said DeSantis. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
- Attorney General Ashley Moody noted, “We are fortunate to have a Governor committed to the rule of law and holding officials — especially those elected to protect the public — accountable for not doing the jobs they swore an oath to do.”
- “Ms. Worrell abdicated her responsibility as the circuit’s top prosecutor and her actions undermine the safety and security of our state and Floridians,” Moody continued.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE ORDER:
- “Worrell has authorized or allowed practices or policies that have systematically permitted violent offenders, drug traffickers, serious-juvenile offenders, and pedophiles to evade incarceration, when otherwise warranted under Florida law,” the executive order reads. “These practices or policies include non-filing or dropping meritorious charges or declining to allege otherwise provable facts to avoid triggering applicable lengthy sentences, minimum mandatory sentences, or other sentencing enhancements, especially for offenders under the age of 25, except in the most extreme cases. Worrell’s practices or policies contravene the policies of the Florida Legislature as expressed in statute and undermine the safety, security, and welfare of the communities that Worrell has been elected to serve.”
- “Worrell’s practice or policy of arbitrarily limiting the number of counts for Possession of Child Pornography that may be prosecuted against a defendant endangers vulnerable children in the Ninth Circuit and across the State and constitutes both ‘neglect of duty’ and ‘incompetence,'” it goes on to say.
- The document explains that Worrell’s “practices or policies are an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and reflect a systemic failure to enforce incarcerative penalties called for by Florida law.”
- “The Ninth Circuit’s total prison admission rate is the lowest by far in the State and is less than half of the statewide average,” according to the document.
BACKGROUND:
- On June 1, Soros-funded St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner resigned from her role following legislative pressure.
- “It is not the first time the legislature has proposed bills that would take away our city’s power — that has happened in nearly every legislative session since I took office. It is also clear to me, however, that as long as I remain in the office, it will not be the last,” she wrote in a May letter.
- Shortly after Gardner’s announcement, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a statement insisting that she step down immediately: “There is absolutely no reason for the Circuit Attorney to remain in office until June 1. We remain undeterred with our legal quest to forcibly remove her from office. Every day she remains puts the city of St. Louis in more danger.”
