Chief Judge Mark E. Walker has disqualified himself from Disney’s lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis, after DeSantis and the state of Florida filed a motion to have the judge dismissed, however not for the reasons that DeSantis and his team listed.
What’s Happening:
- Attorneys for DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District recently 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.”
- In an order response, Walker noted that the defendants’ motion is without merit and that his previous hypothetical questions cannot raise a substantial doubt about his impartiality.
- However, the judge has disqualified himself from the case upon learning that a relative within the third degree of relationship owns thirty shares of stock in The Walt Disney Company.
- The case has now been reassigned to Judge Allen C. Windsor for “all further proceedings.”
- This comes as a blow to Disney who filed an opposition to the motion, looking to keep Walker as the judge.
- You can read Walker’s full order on disqualification here.