DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ legal team filed a motion Friday to disqualify U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker from handling the Walt Disney Company’s federal lawsuit against him, alleging statements Walker made in other cases show the judge is biased in favor of the entertainment giant.
The defendants claim remarks by the judge made in open court on at least two occasions could “imply he has prejudged the retaliation in question.”
The motion states: “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.”
The DeSantis’ legal team pulled statements by the judge in two separate hearings, including in a case against former Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran, in which plaintiffs said they feared they would face punishment as a result of “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” surveys required by a 2021 state law.
In the other case, plaintiffs claimed state officials would take action against plaintiffs’ schools if they expressed opinions that violated the Individual Freedom Act, dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” by DeSantis.
According to the motion filed on Friday, Walker brought up Disney in the context of asking whether a record exists of people taking action against those described as “woke” and a pattern of “punitive actions.”
In the first case, he asked: “What’s in the record, for example — is there anything in the record that says we are now going to take away Disney’s special status because they’re woke?”
In the second, he said: “And then Disney is going to lose its status because — arguably, because they made a statement that run afoul — ran afoul of state policy of the controlling party.”
The motion to disqualify claims the judge made “unprompted” references that suggest the state punished Disney by eliminating its special status.
Spokespeople for Disney and governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fallout between Disney and the state of Florida took place after Disney criticized the Parental Rights in Education Law, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for young students. Critics call the law “don’t say gay”.
The governor appointed a new board for a special tax district encompassing Walt Disney World, which sought to undo development agreements approved by the previous Disney-friendly Reedy Creek Improvement District’s board that put Disney in charge of development.
Disney then sued DeSantis and the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in federal court in Tallahassee claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
The tax district responded by suing Disney in state court.
Earlier this week, Disney abruptly announced to its employees it would be dropping plans to build a nearly $1 billion corporate campus in Orlando’s Lake Nona neighborhood that would have brought 2,000 high-paying jobs to Central Florida.
