Florida Governor Suspends Hillsborough State Attorney

Discussion in 'The Red Room' started by MikeH92467, Aug 4, 2022.

  1. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    Hillsborough County includes Tampa. DeSantis claims Andrew Warren is neglecting his duty by doing what prosecutors always do: deciding which crimes to aggressively pursue.

    DeSantis said Warren put himself above the law by signing letters saying he would not enforce any prohibitions on sex change operations for minors and would not prosecute abortion cases. He made the latter statement after Roe v. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court.

    "It's not for (Warren) to put himself above that, and say that he is not going to enforce the law," DeSantis said at the news conference. "We don't elect people in one part of the state, to have veto power over what the entire state decides on these important issues.

    Yeah, abortions and sex change operations are a real and immediate threat to public safety.

    He also has a task force dedicated to pursuing cold cases that might involve wrongful convictions. The fact that these moves potentially help people of color more than whites is purely coincidental... The Hillsborough Sheriff and the Sheriff of adjacent Pasco County hate Warren and are barely concealing their glee. :brood:
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  2. Damar

    Damar Liberal Elitist

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    Yes it stinks to high heaven. And DeSantis had it all planned out because the named replacement, Susan Lopez, is a DeSantis lap dog.

    The power to remove state attorneys is only supposed to be used in egregious cases, but DeSantis is clearly using it for partisan gain. If the Democrats ever won the governorship again you can be sure the Republicans in the legislature would immediately curtail this power.
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  3. Nova

    Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

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    Not clear that it's legal, particularly since no such case has been presented to him and the trans stuff is not even (yet) illegal, will be interesting to see how the courts thread the needle to let the Florida Fascist get away with it anyway.
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  4. matthunter

    matthunter Ice Bear

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    And yet DeSantis has the front to say he hates politicians spreading fear (over Monkeypox) and he won't allow it. Presumably because he's concerned his own campaign of terrorizing LBGTQ+ groups and allies would suffer if folk were afraid of other stuff.
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  5. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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  6. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    How DARE you demand consistency from me!!!???
    Howe DARE you?!?!?!
    I'm going to none-too-subtly imply you're an effeminate homosexual!!!
    This behavior makes my pee-pee so big!!!
    SO big!!!
    :rant: :shakefist: :alpha:
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  7. tafkats

    tafkats scream not working because space make deaf Moderator

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    You forgot to throw in something about "pink-haired gender enthusiasts."
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  8. Nova

    Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

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    I said in 2016 that Trump was a uniquely dangerous threat because he was such a sociopath that he would break everything and unleash forces that were always there but somewhat caged - forces we'd not be able to restrain.

    In that sense he was a much worse choice than Ted Cruz, whom I loathed, because Cruz would have mostly painted inside the lines and thus the amount of damage he could have done was mitigated. Same for the other alternatives.

    BUT

    Now that the guard rales are broken and the radical right monster is loosed, now that Republicans know there is no electoral penalty for indulging in their most fascist desires - Desantis is even MORE dangerous than Trump. He's just as soulless, just as power hungry, but much more skilled, much more fanatical, and much less interested in putting personal greed and ego ahead of The Agenda.

    Plus he's younger and healthier and in no real danger of ending up indicted in the next 2 years.

    As important as 2022 is, maybe the single most important race in the country is Desantis' run for re-election - he needs to be put down NOW before he has a shot to be president.
    (not that any Republican with a chance of winning wouldn't be dangerous, but some are going through the motions while others are hardcore)
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  9. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    Don't count on Florida voters, the ones who elected him to begin with, to vote him out. :brood:
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  10. Nova

    Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

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    he was elected by, like, 37k votes over a scandal ridden Dem

    He has a massive amount of money now which is a problem, but that doesn't mean that he's pulled in a lot of swing voters who agree with his proto-fascist bullshit. Ratcheting up the passions of the reactionary base only helps if it doesn't completely alienate sane voters.
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  11. Tererune

    Tererune Troll princess and Magical Girl

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    Better get ready for a desantis presidency.

    I do not think it will matter if desantis loses the duh because he will blame woke leftists and fire up the right. Cheeto has poisoned his ship nationally and desantis will bring in the people who do not like trump while also energizing the haters. Trump already lost to sleepy joe which desantis will use for the death blow.

    I wonder about the governor's election because I do not see any energy behind either christ or fried in this populated blue area. I keep thinking I am wrong that there is even an election for governor this year, and I am where there should be some major effort. It is the sound of silence from the dems around here, and I am paying attention. No one can even tell me who is running for the dem primaries and that is a terrible sign in august of the election year. Everyone knows desantis and what he is for.

    Picking on the GLBT community is perfect for getting the black and hispanic voters to swap parties because there is a lot of religious and racial hatred towards the gays from the conservative hispanic catholics and the homophobic black community around here. Yes, there is a lot of support too, but desantis fires up all the haters around while not undercutting the minority brown communities as much. What are the dems running? Karen or the same old white guy. the energy for the dems is underwhelming. even compass is not going hard against desantis yet. Maybe they are waiting until after the primary choice is made, but come on. The blacks and hispanics around here are super spiritual and they are iffy on homosexuality. Toleration is one thing, but he is saying he is protecting kids from being sexualized by deviants and that works.

    On top of that I have seen some really horrible stats that the right have been registering republicans in the state a lot more than dems. I am glad covid killed off a lot of the racist generation, but there has been a real effort to swap snowbird voting to florida from their other residence. The numbers seem to show it is working. A lot of people with dual residence in different states are conservative retirees who love their tax breaks, and want to push kids to be better (aka christian). They think they know desantis is all for their white entitlements. He does not threaten medicaid and medicare. He does not threaten social security. He threatens those freaky kids in school that frighten the hell out of the old people.

    I hope I am wrong, and would love to see desantis go away, but I have little to no faith in either christ or fried to do what needs to be done to beat him.
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  12. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Nice editorializing, there. You ought to see if msn.com is hiring.
    :dayton:

    I don't agree with the law, but I also wasn't hired for the explicit purpose of enforcing it. Standing on principle in his case means resigning from the position, not grandstanding about your refusal to do your job. He wasn't martyring himself for the cause. He was posing and flexing for political clout.
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  13. Fisherman's Worf

    Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

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    Florida is incapable of thought.
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  14. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    You mean like the "Constitutional Sheriffs" who say they'll refuse to enforce laws that they don't like? :waiting:
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  15. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Absolutely. Do your fucking job or quit. :shrug:
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  16. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    So in Uncle Albert's world there's no such thing as "prosecutorial discretion"? :chris:
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  17. Raoul the Red Shirt

    Raoul the Red Shirt Professional bullseye

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    Inherent in the job of a prosecutor is exercising prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutors are entitled to decide what cases to bring and how to bring them, to a broad degree. Certainly something like, say, choosing not to prosecute any murder cases would be a gross abuse of power. But something like this, not so much.

    Indeed, seems to me that someone who does not want the government to spend unnecessary resources should applaud a prosecutor who doesn't waste tax money bringing cases where the public harm is minimal (at least compared to cases with living and unwilling victims).

    If the community does not like how the prosecutors do it, generally speaking the community can vote their asses out, or vote the people who appointed them out and replace them with prosecutors who will do what the people want.
  18. Steal Your Face

    Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

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    So if a prosecutor chose not go after say, oh I don’t know, a former one term president who lives in Florida, you’re okay with that?
  19. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Cut the shit. This isn't assessing the laws and guidelines applicable to a case being prosecuted. This is outright stating a refusal to enforce a particular law in ANY case.
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  20. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Same answer to you. This is preemptively declaring that there can be no merit to any prosecution under this law. That may be true, but I don't think it's an AG's place to issue the ruling.
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  21. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    So much for freedom of speech. :spock:
  22. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 RadioNinja

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    The Governor preemptively acted based on something that was said, not something that was done.
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  23. Raoul the Red Shirt

    Raoul the Red Shirt Professional bullseye

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    The principle still holds that it's up to Merrick Garland to decide what cases to prosecute or not prosecute. If he makes a decision not to investigate or ultimately prosecute Trump, then my personal take based on the material that is already public and the risks involved in not prosecuting him, it would be a mistake. That prosecutors should have broad discretion for their choices does not mean that they shouldn't face the consequences for those choices. If someone thinks Merrick Garland's making a mistake in choosing to investigate/prosecute Trump, their recourse is at the ballot box, and same if they think he's making a mistake in not choosing to investigate/prosecute Trump enough.
  24. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Quit trying to be cute. :brood:

    Speech: "I disagree with this law."

    Dereliction of duty: "I refuse to do my job and participate to any degree in prosecuting cases under this law."
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  25. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Did the general terms of that action fall within the governor's authority, yes or no?
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  26. Steal Your Face

    Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

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    You and I both know what would happen if Trump weren’t charged with something.
    21F79E44-EC45-45DD-B3C6-A77CCBB87F62.png
  27. Uncle Albert

    Uncle Albert Part beard. Part machine.

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    Trump is a specific case. For that to compare, it would be Garland declaring in advance the unconditional refusal to prosecute ANYONE for similar deeds. The blanket refusal is the problem.
  28. Raoul the Red Shirt

    Raoul the Red Shirt Professional bullseye

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    The State's Attorney is saying (at least) two things:
    1. The state should not be policing abortion and transgender issues
    2. I've got better things to do to try to improve public safety.
    And?

    It remains the case that a prosecutor has the discretion to decide what cases to pursue or not, how to pursue them (or not). There's still a decent chance that despite the pretty flagrant abuse of power that Trump won't be charged with anything.
  29. Raoul the Red Shirt

    Raoul the Red Shirt Professional bullseye

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    Inherent in being a prosecutor is the ability to delegate resources toward and away from categories of cases. A prosecutor can decide that they are not going to prosecute low-level drug offenses even though it is illegal to even have a gram of marijuana because the prosecutor believes it is a waste of time/money or because it is not in the interest of justice.

    There is a whole ethical code that spells out what prosecutors can and can't do, and mindlessly prosecuting people because of a law they think is unjust is not part of it, last I checked.
  30. Steal Your Face

    Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

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    I’ll reserve judgment until we get more information, but what I read on Reason magazine is that to obtain the type of warrant they got to raid Mara Largo, the FBI would have to have a mountain of probable cause so we’ll see. It doesn’t look good.