After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended elected state attorney Andrew Warren in August 2022 because he vowed not to enforce abortion restrictions and replaced him with a political ally, Warren sued, alleging First Amendment retaliation. District court: Some of the factors that motivated DeSantis to suspend Warren definitely involved the prosecutors’ First Amendment rights but DeSantis would have canned Warren regardless. Eleventh Circuit: Sigh. "The First Amendment prevents DeSantis from identifying a reform prosecutor and then suspending him to garner political benefit. On remand, DeSantis must prove that unprotected activity, such as Warren's actual performance or his policies, motivated him to suspend Warren." Newsom concurring: "The First Amendment is an inconvenient thing. It protects expression that some find wrongheaded, or offensive, or even ridiculous. But for the same reason that the government can't muzzle so-called 'conservative' speech under the guise of preventing on-campus 'harassment' ... the state can't exercise its coercive power to censor so-called 'woke' speech with which it disagrees. What's good for mine is (whether I like it or not) good for thine." Word.
The case is Warren v. DeSantis, No. 23-10459 (11th Cir., Jan. 10, 2024).