As expected, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Board Members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District have filed new motions to dismiss Disney’s federal lawsuit against them. The motions to dismiss come on the deadline to file as established weeks ago. Now, Disney has until October 19th to respond to the newly filed motions.
The new motions to dismiss come after Disney narrowed the scope of its Federal lawsuit, moving most of the claims to a state-level countersuit that it filed more than a month ago. When Disney narrowed the scope of the Federal lawsuit, that triggered a new timeline and a new opportunity for the governor and his hand-selected CFTOD Board of Supervisors to argue that the case should be dismissed.
The Motion to Dismiss from DeSantis makes similar claims of sovereign and legislative immunity. The Motion from DeSantis also claims that Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor and the Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The argument there is that Disney would need to establish an injury traceable to the Governor and that the Governor is not the individual or entity that would cause any injury because the Governor does not enforce the laws Disney is fighting.
In the Motion to Dismiss filed by the CFTOD defendants, the argument is made that the First Amendment retaliation claim is meritless. The CFTOD points to a case that says that the First Amendment does not support a claim where a statute is otherwise constitutional, regardless of the subjective motivations of the lawmakers. The argument says that Disney is essentially fighting against the motivations of lawmakers, not the law itself.
Another argument that the CFTOD defendants make is that the First Amendment does not constrain the state’s decision to reconstitute state entities. It’s a complicated argument that is presented with hypotheticals, but it seems like the defendants are arguing that the State should be allowed to revoke the authority of entities within the state when the entity doesn’t align with the politics of the Governor. Furthermore, the defendants argue that the State would be protected in such an action because the State has the power to determine the structure of government within the state.
You can read the recently filed documents below.
The next date to pencil into your calendar is October 19th, which is the deadline for Disney to respond to the motions to dismiss the case.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!