Israel loses bid for reinstatement
Judge: Former Broward sheriff’s rights not violated
TALLAHASSEE Former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s due-process rights were not violated when the Florida Senate refused to reinstate the veteran law enforcement official after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him from office, a federal judge has ruled.
Israel turned to the federal court following an October special legislative session in which the Senate formally removed Israel from office. The lawsuit alleged that the Senate’s process was unfair and named Senate President Bill Galvano and DeSantis as defendants.
But in dismissing the case Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said Israel failed to prove that the legislative proceedings violated his due-process rights.
“This court understands why plaintiff, believing the blame for numerous brutal murders has been unfairly and undeservedly laid at his feet, might feel wronged. He believes he was scapegoated and then railroaded, without a fair chance to defend himself. But the issue in this case is not whether defendants made the right decision in removing plaintiff from office, and this court is not a forum to relitigate the merits of plaintiff’s suspension and removal,” Walker wrote in an 81-page ruling.
The Republican governor made Israel’s removal one of his first acts after taking office in January 2019, alleging incompetence in the handling of mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The judge said Israel, a Democrat, “does not have standing to bring this suit against defendant DeSantis.” The Senate has the authority to remove or reinstate elected officials who have been suspended by the governor.
Although he expressed empathy for Israel, Walker said the issue before the court was not whether the process “was perfect or could have been fairer or more robust, nor whether it conformed to Florida law.”
The “sole issue” is “whether the process plaintiff alleges he received satisfies the requirements of due process clause,” the judge wrote.
“Due process does not guarantee a perfect process, nor any particular process, and plaintiff cannot use the due process clause to force the Florida Senate to provide him a more exhaustive procedure just because he believes it would
Broward has 11.8. Statewide, Florida has 7.5 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties had been coordinating their reopening plans to ensure that one county doesn’t get overwhelmed with visitors from another.
The letter also repeated the commission’s intention to hold a meeting Friday to review a proposed order to allow the beaches to open.
“This is being done in accordance with your Executive Order 2020-90, where beaches were closed in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, and you provided the County Administrators the ability to enforce, relax, modify or remove these beach closures,” the letter says.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Hal Valeche, whose district includes Jupiter, North Palm Beach and the town of Palm Beach, has been among the most vocal advocates on the commission to split from the regional effort and reopen before Broward and MiamiDade counties.
“I’m getting a little frustrated because this is something that’s not that complicated,” he said, when reached by phone Wednesday.
Dr. Alina Alonso, Florida Department of Health Palm Beach director, encouraged caution.
“We flattened the curve because we put in the social distancing right when it could have been bad,” she said at Tuesday’s commission meeting. “This is not a matter of ripping the BandAid off and everything will be fine, because then the cases will go back up.”