DeSantis asks that judge be disqualified from Disney's free speech lawsuit

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MIKE SCHNEIDER an hour ago

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees, claiming the jurist’s prior statements in other cases have raised questions about his impartiality on the state’s efforts to take over Disney World’s governing body.

DeSantis ? attorney filed a motion in federal court in Tallahassee on Friday seeking to disqualify Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker from overseeing the lawsuit filed by Disney last month. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his appointees violated the company’s right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters after Disney opposed Florida legislation that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”

The Republican governor’s motion was filed a day after Disney announced that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, amid an ongoing feud with DeSantis.

DeSantis’ motion said Walker referenced the ongoing dispute between his administration and Disney during hearings in two unrelated lawsuits before him dealing with free speech issues and fear of retaliation for violating new laws championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. One of those was a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Florida professors that challenged a new law establishing a survey about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on state campuses.




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/disney-desantis-florida-lgbtq-orlando-ba2580a0677cfa4a9958dc828661cb88

[Mike Nelson]

1. Hmm...

... sounds like he's judge shopping. I hope his request is denied.

[Deuxcents]

2. Florida's taxes at work for this wanna be dictator

16 million dollars were set aside for his legal fees in the budget. 🤬

[Marthe48]

3. why doesn't the little jerk just write a law and sign it?

he does it for every other little thing his anal gland desires

[usaf-vet]

4. Which means..... HE WANTS TO STACK THE COURT!

I am F****** sick of the RWNJ.

I hope "The Mouse" squeezes his state budget until it, too, squeaks.

[Axelrods_Typewriter]

8. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney is investigating locations to move Disney World to.

[onenote]

10. Disney has no plans to move Disney World.

It's a ridiculous idea.

“This isn’t difficult,” Keith Olbermann wrote in a March tweet. “Move all the irreplaceable items out of the current DisneyWorld. Rebuild in the Carolinas or Puerto Rico. Then invite [DeSantis] to Disney’s Orlando facility and burn the place down while he watches.”

It would actually be extremely difficult, experts say. Impossibly so.

“There isn’t enough tea in China or gold in the ground to get Disney to leave Florida,” said Dennis Speigel, president of the consulting firm International Theme Park Services. He said Disney created a global destination for leisure travel. “And there’s no place on the planet that even comes close.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/04/28/can-disney-move-florida-desantis/

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

15. It's beyond ridiculous

They've sunk far too much time, money and effort into it. They won't move without a buyer for the property, but who would buy it at a price to make a move worth it to Disney? Plus, no place has the sweet spot of non-insane politics, the right weather, cheap land and easy access to resources for a relocated Disney park.

Putting Disney on an island is beyond fricking stupid. Islands have nothing but strikes against them, between limited available land + limited resources = limited infrastructure and support for it. Importing goods alone would make a park too expensive to build, maintain and operate. Very few could afford the costs Disney would have to pass onto the tourists to turn a profit, and that sort of defeats the purpose of selling the Disney brand.

So islands are right out.

As for stateside...New Mexico has the right politics, and even cheap land, but their climate is all wrong, and they're far too vulnerable to droughts for a park that makes so much use of water. South Carolina's weather isn't nice enough year round, and their politics are as barmy as Florida's. South Texas could be a contender for (sort of) cheap land and the right weather, but their state politics are worse than Florida's.

Southern Georgia comes the closest to what Disney would need to rebuild, between the politics trending blue, and an area close to, but not on, the coast. Disney chose Orlando not only for the warm climate and proximity to the ocean, but also because it's inland enough to suffer less from hurricanes than coastal cities. That was smart thinking on their part. Southern Georgia has a similar area near their coast.

The problem could be cost of the land. I doubt that the values there for now are all that expensive...but not expensive doesn't = cheap. Yeah, it's not as expensive as land in Orange County, CA, but it's not pennies for an acre, either. Also, Georgia is an old state that's always had a decent-sized population, which means it has plenty of inhabitants who have been there for generations. It will be harder to convince people like that to sell, which will make land costs more expensive than necessary.

Disney is stuck for now, and they're probably hoping to ride out this political nightmare.

[cstanleytech]

13. They might be but I highly doubt it.

After all they would need a ton of land not to mention they would have to rebuild virtually everything and either alone would be a huge amount of money but both together would be jaw dropping.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

16. If things go too sideways, I see Disney simply shutting down the park

For a property-wide "remodel," rather than trying to relocate. They won't like losing access to that perennial cash register, but it's far cheaper to shut down for a short time than to pack up and move. It would also have the advantage of sending a decided message about who has the real power to make or break Florida, and it isn't DuhSatan

Like that saying about the Mouse that roared, only for real.

[cstanleytech]

18. Shutting it down for awhile to get the public angry enough to demand the Republicans knuckle under

I could see.
Disney could certainly weather it as they proved once already.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Obama judge

confirmed in 2012 and even clashed with DeStupid's predecessor Rick SSsssssssssscottt.

Hmm....

[bucolic_frolic]

6. When are we gonna learn this judge shopping game? /nt

[onenote]

11. It rarely if ever works. Which is why DOJ doesn't bother to try.

Seeking a judge's recusal is a high wire act strategy since it rarely works and runs the risk of pissing off the judge. You may not believe it, but the DOJ actually knows what its doing.

Here are a couple of examples:

Trump tried to get the judge in the Clinton Rico case to recuse himself. Didn't happen. Trump lost big. https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-judge-rejects-trump-motion-recusal-hillary-clinton-rico-case-2022-4

Roger Stone tried to get the judge in his case to recuse himself. Didn't happen. Stone lost big.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-judge-rejects-roger-stone-s-request-her-recusal-n1141446

In fact, the only time I can recall in which a judge recused himself based on claims of bias was years ago when the judge handling the Tom Delay case recused himself after the prosecutor made an issue out of the judge's contributions to republicans.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9881506

However, DOJ was recently successful in getting a case moved from Fort Worth to Austin. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/17/biden-doj-wins-transfer-of-lawsuit-challenging-student-loan-rule-away-from-conservative-texas-court-00092473

[bluestarone]

7. The man with a loaded Florida SC and legislature asks for a judge removal?

Gotta a lot of BALLS there boy! Asking a fucking stupid question like that! IDIOT!

[JohnnyRingo]

9. Bench shopping.

He clearly wants someone with a Trump tattoo and will keep nixing judges until he finds one.

[GreenWave]

12. Gee, a judge said a few sentences that hurt mr. white supremacist boots.

And were not about his case.

Next he will say the judge was a never DeSantis.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

14. This judge must be a real one

Rather than a DuhSatan kangaroo court Nazi. No wonder he's whining to get one more "favorable" to traitor party power grabs.

[machoneman]

17. Oh, just one more move to delay the inevitable. This motion screams that we're gonna lose!

The idea of limiting free speech by Disney is comical. Watch for a flurry of motions pre-trial and during the trial where DeSatan's attorneys will be flinging monkey poo, knowing they have a very slim chance of prevailing.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

19. Somebody said the other day that deSantis wants to be king.

I replied, "No. He wants to be god."

I am so sick of this fascist little thug.

[Happy Hoosier]

20. He wants to pick the judge. Don't let him. NT

[Wonder Why]

21. Apparently, the Judge believes in the First Amendment too.

Shame on that judge.

[Initech]

22. Desantis is such a sad, pathetic, petty piece of shit.