OPINION:
America’s law enforcement organizations have come a long way from the days of J. Edgar Hoover, Melvin Purvis and the junior G-men. They wouldn’t recognize the FBI today, or the way it and the Justice Department are in it up to their necks over their various probes into former President Donald Trump and his associates. We hope special counsel John Durham, a former U.S. attorney with a spotless reputation for integrity, will be able to get to the bottom of it all, but, given the way the “old boy and girl network” covers its tracks, we’re doubtful.
That’s only one of the problems with the American justice system today. An even bigger one concerns elected officials who take it upon themselves not to follow the law. They announce they will not prosecute offenders and not defend the interests of the people, and no one seems to care.
It’s time to, and the sooner the better. Folks like Andrew Warren cannot be allowed to wear their refusal to do their job as a badge of honor, making them worthy of consideration for high office. For those not following, he’s the Florida prosecutor who announced he’d not be prosecuting or punishing anyone who obtained an abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs.
To legal abortion supporters, this made him an instant hero. To Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s pledged to uphold the laws of his state, Mr. Warren’s self-aggrandizing proclamation made him a carbuncle needing to be addressed immediately before his attitude spread.
Mr. DeSantis suspended Mr. Warren, something he has the power to do. His reasoning was simple: The people have the right to expect their police and prosecutors and judges to uphold, enforce and adjudicate the law. They don’t get to pick and choose the ones they like.
Mr. Warren responded by suing, claiming his first amendment rights had been abridged. He should be allowed, he said in his filing, to express his opinion which, as the top-notch lawyer he appears to be, seems not to have noticed he was able to do. He expressed his opinion but would rather have missed the adverse consequences that followed. Which makes him sound like a modern law student rather than a tenured member of the bar.
Based on how things have been going, he’s not wrong in thinking there’s some kind of new standard. Prosecutors in major cities aren’t locking suspected bad guys up in the name of criminal justice reform. Instead, they stand on the sidelines as the rate of violent crime rises. None have been suspended over this though at least one, the now former district attorney in notoriously licentious San Francisco of all places, was recalled.
This is not just a problem in the realm of criminal law. We can think of at least one occasion when California’s attorney general and the governor both refused to defend in federal court a ballot measure voters approved by a healthy margin because they didn’t like the law it enacted. No one grabbed them by the scruff of the neck, picked them up, and said sharply, “It doesn’t matter if you agree. You wanted the job. Now do it. Defend them and their interests.”
They got away with it, as Mr. Warren might, because liberal elites march in lockstep. They know better than the voters anyway — and will tell you if you’ll listen — about what the law should be and which ones should not be enforced. So much for the idea of America as a democracy.
Hopefully, the courts will decline to hear Mr. Warren’s suit. The people’s need for remedies when public officials fail to do their jobs is a subject worthy of consideration by state and federal lawmakers. We put limits on power for a reason. No one in elected office should have the power not to do their job because their personal view conflicts with the will of the people as expressed in the democratic arena or a representative legislative forum. Mr. Warren deserved the hard slap he got. Others should follow Mr. DeSantis’ example elsewhere. The principle of accountability is an important one that must be sustained.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.