The battle between Walt Disney World and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to heat up as a pair of lawsuits between various state entities, including the governor’s office and the vacation kingdom itself, continue to work their way through the courts. Disney is trying to get the state lawsuit thrown out, and now DeSantis' legal team has a new strategy.
In fact, it seems the Florida Governor is looking to get himself and the secretary for the Department of Economic Opportunity removed from the federal suit. When Disney brought its lawsuit to Federal court, it claimed the state was retaliating against the company for exercising its freedom of speech. In fact, the lawsuit was brought against multiple state organizations, the governor of Florida, the secretary of the Department of Economic Opportunity, and the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
In an argument filed in federal court on Monday, Yahoo reports that the Attorney General for Florida is arguing that the governor and the DEO secretary should be exempt from litigation due to the doctrine of legislative immunity.
Why Ron DeSantis Believes He’s Immune From Disney’s Lawsuit
Legislative immunity argues that lawmakers can not be sued over actions they take as part of their normal legislative activity. The AG also argued that the suit violates the 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prevents citizens from suing a state.
Even if the argument is found to be persuasive by the court, the lawsuit itself would still move forward against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The CFTOD board was created by one of the laws that Ron DeSantis signed that Disney is taking issue with. It replaced the over 50-year-old Reedy Creek Improvement District with a new board appointed entirely by the governor. Lawyers for the CFTOD have separately asked to have the lawsuit dismissed, or at least stayed, until the unsettled questions of state law have been addressed.
Why Disney World Is Suing Ron DeSantis
The battle between DeSantis and Walt Disney World goes back to last year when the company spoke out against a Florida law, called “Don’t Say Gay” by its detractors. Following Disney’s public statements, Florida has passed a series of laws that have continued to restrict freedoms the theme park previously had.
They’ve also moved to undo a deal between Disney World and the previous board that granted the theme park control of several thousand acres of Disney World property. The CFTOD has sued Disney over the deal, while a separate, state law was passed that allows the new board to reverse the deal. Disney has asked that lawsuit be dismissed due to the fact that, due to the new state law, the lawsuit’s outcome would be irrelevant.
DeSantis being removed from the lawsuit would certainly be a significant blow to the case for Disney. The governor is at the core of the retaliation being claimed. However, if the lawsuit itself survives, it could still go Disney’s way, and that could ultimately reverse a lot of what has happened to Disney World in the last year. There's a lot of ifs in this case still.
