Lawyers for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday told a federal judge to resign from a lawsuit brought by Disney, saying the governor’s statements in two unrelated courtrooms last year showed bias against the company. asked for
Florida Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard forwarded the request to Chief Justice Mark E. Walker for the Northern District of Florida on behalf of Mr. DeSantis. Judge Walker is handling the early stages of the Disney lawsuit filed last month, alleging Mr. DeSantis and the committee that oversees government services at Walt Disney World engaged in a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
In a motion to disqualify Judge Walker, lawyers for Mr. Gard and five members of the board said two statements from last year “reflected the court’s prejudice against Disney’s retaliation theory here.” It can be reasonably understood that they are doing so, and therefore raises serious doubts about the judges of the Court.” fairness of the court. ”
In both cases, Judge Walker brought up Disney at hearings in unrelated cases, briefly citing actions against the company by Florida legislator DeSantis and his allies as examples of retaliation, according to the filing. Judge Walker made remarks at an intellectual freedom lawsuit hearing on a college campus the day after he “publicly refuted” the notion that Mr. DeSantis was taking “retaliatory” action against Disney, according to the filing. It is said that one of the
The second statement was made in June at a preliminary injunction hearing on Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act,” which limits discussion of “white privilege” and other racial bias issues during diversity training offered by private employers. made in Judge Walker cited what happened between Mr. DeSantis and Disney as an example of punitive action, according to the filing.
In August, Judge Walker made national headlines for blocking a portion of the law, formally called the Personal Liberties Act, which Mr. DeSantis supported.
A Disney spokeswoman declined to comment. Judge Walker, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012, did not respond to messages requesting comment.
DeSantis and Disney have been sparring for more than a year over the special tax zone surrounding Disney World. The fight began when the company criticized Florida’s education law, which opponents labeled “Don’t Say You’re Gay” for restricting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. But this infuriated Mr. DeSantis, who repeatedly vowed revenge.
Since then, at the request of Mr. DeSantis, the Florida legislature has targeted Disney, the state’s largest taxpayer, through a variety of hostile means. In February, it gave Mr. DeSantis control over government services at Disney World, ending the company’s long-held ability to govern its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county.
Board members appointed by Mr. DeSantis quickly discovered that a previous board, controlled by Disney, had approved a development agreement that would lock in the resort’s growth plans. Efforts to void those agreements erupted into a one-on-one lawsuit, with Disney suing Mr. DeSantis and his allies in federal court, and the governor’s tax district appointees fighting back in state court. .
