Ousted sheriff files federal lawsuit, seeking to get his job back
Ousted Broward Sheriff Scott Israel has returned to court to try to get his job back, this time filing a federal lawsuit alleging his due process rights were violated when the Florida Senate changed the rules and introduced what he claims is false information in order to remove him from office last month.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court, seeks Israel’s reinstatement and argues that the Florida Senate vote to uphold Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to remove Israel from office was a purely partisan move because the governor failed to prove that Israel neglected his duties or was incompetent in response to the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
DeSantis, a Republican elected to office last year, campaigned on the promise that he would remove Israel for incompetence after former school resource officer Scot Peterson and other Broward deputies failed to confront the shooter at the school.
Israel, a Democrat, was halfway through his second term when DeSantis suspended him and named Gregory Tony, a former Coral Springs sergeant, to replace hiim.
The Senate, which has the sole power to remove an elected official from office, hired conservative
Republican lawyer and former lawmaker Dudley Goolette to conduct a trial and make a recommendation to the full Senate.
Goodlette recommended that Israel be reinstated, concluding that the governor’s lawyers failed to prove their case that the actions of the deputies were evidence that Israel had acted with incompetence and negligence.
But on on Oct. 23, the Senate voted 25-15, largely along party lines, to reject Goodlette’s recommendation and remove Israel, winning praise from the families of the victims.
Israel, who is represented by lawyers Ben Kuehne and Stuart Kaplan, argues in the complaint filed in federal court that the Senate “ignored and rejected due process principles of notice and an opportunity to be heard by changing the legislative rules.”
After “it became apparent to the Senate legislative majority that the governor had failed to present facts supporting his suspension decision,” the Senate introduced new information during a hearing of the Rules Committee and conducted a “trial by ambush,’’ the lawsuit alleges.
That evidence “relied on materially false information, speculation, and innuendo in reaching its decision to remove Sheriff Israel from office, all of which were not presented to Sheriff Israel in advance of the Senate proceeding,’’ the suit states.
“The Senate charade was nothing more than a carefully scripted scheme to subvert due process by creating new allegations and presenting false facts to remove this Democrat from sheriff of Broward County as preparations for the 2020 election are under way,’’ Kuehne said in a statement.
“The harm done to the Constitution by taking away the power of the people to elect their officials is frightening.”
Florida Senate President Bill Galvano received a copy of the lawsuit on Saturday but did not have any comment, said Senate spokesperson Katie Betta.
The case was assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge William Stafford, who was appointed to the bench 44 years ago by President Gerald Ford.
This is the second lawsuit Israel has filed in his attempt to be reinstated to his former job. In March, he filed a quo warrento petition challenging the governor’s authority to remove him. The case went to the Florida Supreme Court, which denied the petition.
Meanwhile, Israel and Tony have both filed to run for sheriff in the 2020 election.