Federal judge dismisses suspended Florida state attorney's suit against DeSantis

A federal judge has dismissed a suit against Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis brought by a state attorney whom the governor had suspended for refusing to enforce state laws restricting abortion and transgender surgeries for minors.

Democratic State Attorney Andrew Warren, an elected official, had sought reinstatement via a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Judge Robert Hinkle had harsh words for DeSantis' actions, asserting that the governor had violated state law, but that he, a federal judge, could not reinstate Warren "in this federal action based solely on a violation of state law," according to The Hill.

"Mr. Warren was indeed a reform prosecutor, exactly as he told voters he would be... Disagreements about the proper prosecutorial approach are the stuff on which state-attorney elections properly turn," he wrote. "Disagreements like this are not the stuff on which suspensions properly turn [emphasis original]."

DeSantis booted Warren in August of last year, saying "State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda."

Warren has previously indicated that he indirectly received funds from left-wing megadonor George Soros via the state Democratic Party.