A federal judge rejected Disney’s free speech suit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, so the theme park operator will have to rely on a separate state court challenge if it wants to regain control of the Walt Disney World district.
According to the ruling of US district judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee, Disney did not have the legal right to sue the Republican governor, the head of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and the representatives appointed to the Disney World governing district by DeSantis for First Amendment violations. In Orlando’s state court, the separate lawsuit has not yet been resolved.
After publicly opposing the state’s so-called “don’t say gay law,” Disney claimed that DeSantis’s signing of a bill that transferred control of the Disney World governing district from Disney supporters to DeSantis appointees was retaliation. The bill had been passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
After recently suspending his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, DeSantis spearheaded a law that banned teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary school classrooms in 2022.
After being established by the Legislature in 1967, the district has been under the leadership of Disney supporters for over half a century. The district is responsible for municipal services like firefighting, planning, and mosquito control.
When a law appears to be constitutional, plaintiffs cannot use free-speech claims to challenge it on the grounds that lawmakers acted with unconstitutional motives, according to Winsor, who was appointed to the bench by former president Trump in 2019.
“Because that is what Disney seeks here, its claim fails as a matter of law,” wrote Winsor.
Disney, in a statement that avoided explicitly stating that it would appeal the decision, said that it would “press forward with our case.”
“This is an important case with serious implications for the rule of law, and it will not end here,” said the business. “If left unchallenged, this would set a dangerous precedent and give license to states to weaponize their official powers to punish the expression of political viewpoints they disagree with.”
As Jeremy Redfern, the press secretary for the governor, put it, the judge’s ruling backs up DeSantis’s position that Disney does not have the right to its “own special government.”
“The days of Disney controlling its own government and being placed above the law are long gone,” said Redfern.
