As the legal battle between Disney and the state of Florida continues, Ron Desantis is now looking to have the judge dismissed from Disney’s case against him in federal court.
- Desantis filed a motion to disqualify Chief Judge Mark E. Walker from Disney’s case against him and the state of Florida.
- The motion specifically sites two specific previous cases in which Walker used Disney as an example of state retaliation, implying that the judge has “prejudged the retaliation question here.”
- You can read the introduction to the filed motion below and see the entire document here:
- Defendants move to disqualify Chief Judge Mark E. Walker (the Court) under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) because the Court’s impartiality in this matter might reasonably be questioned. This case involves claims that Defendants retaliated against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. based on Disney’s viewpoints. Yet two previous times, in two unrelated cases, the Court sua sponte offered “Disney” as an example of state retaliation. Those remarks—each derived from extrajudicial sources—were on the record, in open court, and could reasonably imply that the Court has prejudged the retaliation question here. Because that question is now before this Court, and because that question involves highly publicized matters of great interest to Florida’s citizens, the Court should disqualify itself to prevent even the appearance of impropriety.
More on Disney’s legal battle with Florida:
- Earlier this year, DeSantis signed legislation that allowed him to appoint his own members to the Reedy Creek Board, all of whom are mentioned and being sued in the lawsuit from the Walt Disney Company.
- Earlier this month, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board filed a countersuit against Disney after the company filed a suit of their own against the state just a few days prior.
- Disney is now asking a Florida judge to dismiss the suit, calling it “moot” and claiming that state law requires that the state court sideline the litigation until the company’s own federal case against Ron DeSantis is resolved.
- Phrasing in the recently amended lawsuit from Disney includes, “The State’s actions over the last two weeks are the latest strikes. At the Governor’s bidding, the State’s oversight board has purported to ‘void’ publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs. Days later, the State Legislature enacted and Governor DeSantis signed legislation rendering these contracts immediately void and unenforceable. These government actions were patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”
- Knowing DeSantis will do whatever he can, the lawsuit also adds “The Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop. The Governor recently declared that his team would not only “void the development agreement”—just as the State has now done, twice—but also planned “to look at things like taxes on the hotels,” “tolls on the roads,” “developing some of the property that the district owns” with “more amusement parks,” and even putting a “state prison” next to Walt Disney World. “Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless,” he said.”
- It should also be noted that Disney is not the only one with a district similar to that of Reedy Creek, with The Villages retirement and 55+ community and even Daytona International Speedway operating with their own similar district with their own regulations.