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Round one goes to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. And this win could potentially be huge for Governor DeSantis in his ongoing legal case with the Walt Disney Company.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker recused himself from the case, saying he had a conflict of interest. His conflict was that a distant family member owned 30 shares of stock in the Disney Company.
Credit: Disney / Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Lawyers for DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District sought to remove Walker from the case for commenting about it in open court during other trials. But Walker, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, also shot down several DeSantis policies in court.
While recusing himself, Walker did slam Gov. DeSantis’ original motion, writing:
Without exploring all the other defects in the motion, for the reasons noted above and as thoughtfully outlines in Plaintiff’s response, Defendant’s motion is wholly without merit. In fact, I find the motion nothing more than rank judge shopping. Sadly, this practice has become all too common in this district.
The case has now been assigned to U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. Winso has shown himself to be a reliable go-to for DeSantis and his policies when challenged in court.
Credit: Matt Johnson, Flickr
Winsor has thrown out two separate lawsuits that challenged the Parental Rights in Education law, known by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Winsor ruled the plaintiffs in those cases did not have standing to challenge the law, and their arguments for why the law was damaging to them were insufficient.
The Walt Disney Co is suing Gov Ron DeSantis and his board for infringing on the company’s First Amendment Rights and retaliating for Disney speaking out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney World s ability to govern itself is at stake, as it has done since 1971 through the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Credit: Flickr: Florida Game and Wildlife/Disney
Gov DeSantis’ legal team has asked the court to throw out Disney’s case, and with a judge friendly to the governor and his causes, it has become more likely Judge Winsor would listen to that petition.
How far Disney’s lawsuit will go in the courts remains to be seen, but this change can only help DeSantis and his board.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
