ames Uthmeier, Florida’s unelected attorney general, seems to be keeping busy. Between issuing battalions of press releases (each starting the same way — with his own name and title ), taking credit for investigations launched before he took office and burning up social media, he’s showing Floridians why he spent so long as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ right-hand man.
But Florida’s newly appointed chief legal officer has carried one of the governor’s worst habits with him. He’s spending far too much of his time and energy bullying local officials over nonsense. And — like his former boss — he seems to have a particular geographic obsession that starts with “Or” and ends with “lando.”
Enough. Local leaders like Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (who was a member of the Florida House around the time Uthmeier was navigating the intricate social structure of first grade) and State Attorney Monique Worrell know what they are doing. And Central Florida voters know to trust them. It’s the height of arrogance for Uthmeier to scold them like errant children; being handed a plum job by his buddy boss doesn’t mean he’s earned that privilege.
Back to Worrell Worrell was the first to be targeted, and it’s clear that Uthmeier shares DeSantis’ fixation with Orange and Osceola counties’ head prosecutor, whom DeSantis groundlessly suspended halfway through her first term. A few weeks ago, Worrell (whom voters handily returned to office in November) announced a new policy: She would no longer accept cases from local law enforcement agencies where there had been no official arrest. Those cases — which translate into a 13,000-case backlog — often come to her with ample evidence that a crime has been committed, but no probable cause to arrest a guilty party even if police have a suspect in mind. Many of them are simply unsolvable, she said in a recent press conference: If police can’t scrape up enough evidence to justify an arrest, she has almost no hope of meeting the much-higher standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The policy doesn’t apply to a brace of serious crimes — homicide, sexual battery, cruelty to animals, trafficking and others. And it’s nearly identical to a policy held by Bill Gladson, the state attorney in the 5th Judicial Circuit, whom Uthmeier did not single out as “clearly and fundamentally derelict.” (He did, however, appear to blame Worrell for the outcome of a child-pornography case that was actually settled by Gladson’s office.) And Worrell is undisputedly right when she says prosecutors have a duty not to levy charges they don’t think they can prove. Their ultimate loyalty is to justice, not racking up body counts.
Central Floridians can be grateful that Uthmeier sent a half-dozen prosecutors to clear some of that backlog. We could have done without the snarky implication that Worrell’s office was somehow at fault here; as she pointed out in a tartly worded press conference, each of the last four state attorneys has maintained the same-sized load of non-arrest cases. She’s also right to point out that what she (and by extension, other prosecutors around the state) really need are additional, permanent resources. That’s an artifact of Florida’s habitual underfunding of its court system.
After Worrell punched not one, but two holes in his rhetoric, we’d have hoped Uthmeier would have learned his lesson. Nope.
Needless needling Next up was Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, whom Uthmeier targeted with a truly ludicrous threat after a discussion at the April 7 City Council meeting of an agreement that the Orlando Police Department recently signed with the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The discussion revolved around the city’s Trust Act, which prohibits city officials from asking about immigration status for people who are victims or witnesses of crimes, and of not conditioning city services on someone’s status.
That policy, which has been in place since 2018, makes sense. Nobody should be afraid to talk to police or talk to other city employees, and the policy specifically says that city employees are still obligated to follow state and federal law. Yet Uthmeier seemed to think it was appropriate to fire off a threat to remove Dyer from office — without even the courtesy of direct communication. Instead, he posted his screed on X (formerly Twitter).
Dyer fired back Monday, reminding Uthmeier that Orlando has never said it intended to violate any laws. It was a clarification, not a reversal (despite Uthmeier’s response pretending as much).
Dyer nobly refrained from pointing out a fundamental hypocrisy: Uthmeier recently signaled his intent to abdicate a fundamental duty of his office by refusing to defend Parkland-era restrictions on gun sales including a ban for purchasers under the age of 21.
We’re not nearly as high-minded.
It’s not as if Uthmeier has nothing better to do. Here’s a list of things he could be doing instead:
As we pointed out in this space Wednesday, Florida is second only to Georgia in the per-capita rate of financial fraud, with vulnerable seniors being swindled of their lives’ savings and businesses targeted by endless scams.
Florida’s fabled Government-in-the-Sunshine laws are under sustained attack, with many state agencies outright defying demands for records that belong, by right, to the public.
The state Ethics Commission needs his advocacy for changes that will let the state hold accountable public officials who legitimately abuse their privilege (as opposed to simply triggering DeSantis’ ire).
And of course, there’s the brewing scandal over a suspected diversion of $10 million funneled through Hope Florida, a nonprofit connected with Ron DeSantis’ wife Casey. Does Uthmeier have a conflict of interest there?
These are the kinds of fights Florida’s greatest attorneys general have taken on. And they’ve won significant victories on behalf of the people they were elected to represent.
Under former Attorney General Ashley Moody, many of these priorities were abandoned. Uthmeier could have made his name the right way, by restoring his office’s duty to bolster the integrity of Florida’s government and protect its residents. Instead, he’s picking petty, ill-informed fights with local leaders while declaring all the ways he’s not going to do his job.
Florida deserves better. If he ever plans to seek elected office on his own, Uthmeier must do better.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
1 comment:
Krista Josephs would dine with Rick Scott AkA Fraud Scott and Ron Dishonest in a heartbeat. Ed Slavin would no doubt join the party.. you better believe it.
Post a Comment