While the state-level case between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has gone through the early stages of the court system so far, the federal-level case is about to hit a major milestone. This week, Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will head to a Federal courtroom as the First Amendment case gets its first hearing in front of a judge.

At issue is DeSantis’ attempt to get the case thrown out. Judge Allen C. Winsor will hear the arguments on December 12th at 9:30am in the Joseph Woodrow Hatchett United States Courthouse and Federal Building, Courtroom 5 South in Tallahassee, Florida.

Disney’s Complaint

Following an initial lawsuit back in the Spring, Disney tightened up its argument in Federal court to include just one cause of action against DeSantis, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, and others. Disney moved other causes of actions to a state-level lawsuit where it has countersued, but that’s outside of the scope of this article.

In the amended complaint, which can be viewed in its entirety below, Disney is seeking relief against a single alleged First Amendment violation. Disney outlined how DeSantis and his rubber-stamp Legislature worked in concert to penalize Disney for speaking out against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney says that DeSantis and others have chilled its First Amendment rights by taking retaliatory action against a local governing body formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Perhaps most importantly, Disney has been stripped of voting rights in the special taxation district that governs its 25,000 acres.

In the lawsuit, Disney quotes Senator Doug Broxson when he confirmed that the legislative action against Disney was retaliatory for stepping out of line and commenting publicly on a bill that Republicans were championing. Those same Republicans then sought to punish Disney in a rubber-stamp state. Sen. Broxson said that the Legislature “joined with the Governor in saying it was Disney’s decision to go from an apolitical, safe 25,000 acres, and try to be involved in public policy. … We’re saying ‘you have changed the terms of our agreement, therefore we will put some authority around what you do.’”

Sen. Broxson noted that Government punishment of business shouldn’t stop at just Disney, but any and all corporations that don’t fall in line with Republican beliefs. Sen. Broxson said, “when corporations try to use their economic power to advance a woke agenda, they become political, and not merely economic, actors … Leaders must stand up and fight back when big corporations make the mistake, as Disney did, of using their economic might to advance apolitical agenda”.

Indeed, other organizations around the country have noted how Republicans in Florida have sought to use Government power to silence and punish disfavored speech. There are multiple accepted Amicus briefs from various organizations in support of Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis in this case. Organizations voicing support for Disney in this case include:

• REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
• FORMER GOVERNORS, SENIOR GOVERNMENT ATTORNEYS, AND OTHER OFFICALS
• THE LEADERSHIP NOW PROJECT

DeSantis’ Motion to Dismiss

What will be heard at the December 12th hearing will be DeSantis’ Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit from Disney (embedded above). In the Motion to Dismiss, DeSantis argues a few main points that he says should result in the case being thrown out.

DeSantis says that Disney lacks standing to sue him and other state defendants because Disney has not adequately shown injury in the case. DeSantis also attempts to put some distance between himself and the actions that took place to punish Disney. In the Motion to Dismiss, DeSantis argues that the only connection that he has to the bills that punished Disney is that he has the power to appoint Board Members. Of course, DeSantis has touted his punishment of Disney many times on the campaign trail in his bid to become President of the United States of America.

Disney Argues Against Dismissal

In late October filings, Disney argued against a Motion to Dismiss as filed by DeSantis and his hand-picked CFTOD Board of Supervisors above. In short, Disney says that DeSantis and the CFTOD defendants are liable for their retaliatory actions. Disney shows that the Board of Supervisors, which was hand-selected by DeSantis, was charged with using their land-use powers to undermine Disney’s interests. Disney points to DeSantis’ statements about building a state prison next to Disney World and the development of a rival theme park. Not included in the lawsuit are Board Chairman Martin Garcia’s recent comments asking the Florida Legislature to enact more “reforms” on Disney World that would change the landscape of the resort and could impact Disney’s business in Florida.

Disney says that it is not arguing that a Governor cannot create special districts with governor-appointed boards, but that the government cannot allocate government benefits and burdens on impermissible bases, including race, religion, and retribution for protected speech.

First Court Hearing

That takes us to tomorrow, when Disney and DeSantis will present these arguments to Judge Winsor in Federal court. If Disney prevails and the Motion to Dismiss is denied, we will barrel forward into 2024 with both the Federal lawsuit and the state-level lawsuit still very much active. It seems unlikely that Judge Winsor will dismiss the case outright tomorrow, but that chapter of the story is yet to be written.

If Judge Winsor does deny the Motion to Dismiss, then the question of timing for the rest of the case schedule comes into play. Earlier this summer, Disney and DeSantis came up with two widely different plans for trial scheduling. Disney wanted to head to trial on July 15, 2024 and DeSantis wanted to delay a trial date until August 4, 2025. Judge Winsor said that both timelines were unreasonable, and said that he would set a schedule following the pre-trial motions such as the Motion to Dismiss to be heard tomorrow.

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!