The Florida Governor was quick to attack the entertainment giant but expects the court to deny a fast pass to judgment.
Disney would like to see Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in court over his acts of legislative retaliation on the company for exercising free speech rights to express distaste with his attacks on LGBTQ Floridians, and they’d like to do it before the 2024 election.
Of course, anyone paying attention during Donald Trump’s term is well aware of how much protection the office provides against litigation. However, he’s vulnerable to civil rights lawsuits in his role as Florida’s governor, just like another official in the state who lost eye-popping judgments this year in a similar lawsuit.
Disney is asking for a trial date in July of 2024.
DeSantis, who is running for President of the United States and seems to believe that he has a good chance of attaining that role, wants delays.
He’d like the court to slow-walk the case, forcing Disney to wait until August 2025 to hold him accountable. He’s also asking the court to dismiss the case fully. NBC reports:
“In their motion, [DeSantis’] attorneys argue that Disney does not have the standing to sue the governor because he does not directly enforce the laws at issue, and he has legislative immunity that “shields” him from being sued for his role in crafting specific pieces of legislation.”
DeSantis does briefly acknowledge the First Amendment argument in his filing and does not deny it — instead, he argues that he’s immune to lawsuits. According to his filing:
“Disney’s claims against the Governor turn on his ‘call[ing] on the Legislature to pass bills to punish Disney for its speech’ and ‘sign[ing]’ those bills into law…Because those acts are ‘legislative’ in character, Disney’s claims against the Governor run square into his legislative immunity.”
DeSantis also defends his decision, suggesting that the legislation implemented against Disney was carried out in the best interests of the state.
But he has openly and repeatedly admitted his intent (as a government entity) to use his legislative powers to punish the company for speaking up in defense of LGBTQ students and families when he implemented laws that could have teachers punished for acknowledging their existence.
The corporation even cites DeSantis’ memoir for evidence. According to their initial complaint:
“Governor DeSantis’s memoir attacked Disney’s speech and petitioning activity for expressing the wrong viewpoint. ‘In promising to work to repeal the bill,’ he asserted, ‘the company was pledging a frontal assault on a duly enacted law of the State of Florida.’ As a consequence of its disfavored speech and petitioning, he declared, ‘[t]hings got worse for Disney.'”
Disney has until July 26th to respond to the governor’s motion to dismiss.
