A federal judge has dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The Judge acknowledged that Disney is harmed by the laws enacted, saying that Disney’s loss of voting rights in the District is “enough to constitute a constitutional injury”, but that because the law impacts other special districts in the state, Disney cannot say that it is being singled out. Furthermore, the judge says that Disney cannot look toward the motivations of the legislature to claim First Amendment infringement when there is nothing unconstitutional about the law on its face.
Judge Allen Winsor said that while an injunction against the CFTOD Board of Supervisors “would redress Disney’s injury, at least in part”, an injunction against DeSantis would not resolve Disney’s issues, so they lacked standing to sue the Governor.
As it relates to the CFTOD, Judge Winsor says that because there is nothing unconstitutional about the black-and-white text of the law that gave DeSantis control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the motivations of the legislature don’t matter, even though the change in voting rights “works to Disney’s significant detriment”.
Judge Winsor summarized Disney’s failure in its argument as such:
In short, Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor or the Secretary, and its claims against the CFTOD Defendants fail on the merits because “when a statute is facially constitutional, a plaintiff cannot bring a free-speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose.”
We’ve embedded the full decision below, or you can view it at this link.
A state-level lawsuit against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District continues. Disney World has issued a statement about the ruling.
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!
Supreme court next?
It’s a federal district court judge. This would be appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where it would be reviewed by a 3-judge panel. That ruling could then be either submitted to an en banc panel of the 11th Circuit or the losing party could potentially petition for a writ of certiorari at the US Supreme Court.
Hmmm. Court of Appeals if they would take it, but unlikely.
No surprise. Disney wants to drag this out, but they should move on.
Judge is a Trump-appointed Republican and member of the Federalist Society since 2005. Deep ties to GOP politics in Florida. What a shock.