Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida announced on Wednesday he is removing Monique Worrell, a Florida Democratic State Attorney who is a Black woman.

This is the second time in a year he has taken the rare step of removing an elected state attorney.

The Republican governor claimed at a press conference in Tallahassee that Worrell has been “clearly and fundamentally derelict” in her duties, and accused her of under-prosecuting criminals in her jurisdiction.

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DeSantis signed an executive order along with Secretary of State Cord Byrd which accused Worrell of “systematically” allowing criminals to evade incarceration by either dropping charges or declining to bring evidence based on provable facts. According to the executive order, her actions constitute “both neglect of duty and incompetence.”

Prosecutors such as Worrell “do have a certain amount of discretion about which cases to bring and which not,” DeSantis acknowledged, adding that Worrell has “abused that discretion.”

Orlando Judge Andrew Bain has been appointed to replace Worrell, whose suspension is effective immediately.

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Who is Monique Worrell?

Monique Worrell is the state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, who took office in 2021. She is the second African American elected as State Attorney, and the first of Caribbean descent.

She moved to Central Florida in 1996. She obtained her law degree from the University of Florida in 1999, after which she began her career as a Public Defender in Orange County, Florida. She went onto take up private practice where she continued to focus on Criminal Justice.

Worrell later became a clinical law professor at the University of Florida College of Law. She trained law students who aspired to practice criminal law. Side-by-side she developed and implemented the Your Future, Your Choice program to teach youth their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

Worrell became a founding director of the University’s Criminal Justice Center. She left the job to become the founding director of the Conviction Integrity Unit in the State Attorney’s Office in Orange County, Florida. 

Prior to being elected as State Attorney, she served as Chief Legal Officer at a non-profit organization focused on criminal justice reform.