Gov. Ron DeSantis is back home in Florida after dropping out of the presidential race, but he nailed two courthouse victories this week — including a win in his high-profile court clash with the state’s most famous mouse.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the state unconstitutionally retaliated against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts because of the company’s opposition to a controversial education law.
Disney officials in 2022 objected to a new state law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that the state retaliated against Disney with a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against the company.
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In a 17-page ruling, Winsor wrote that the entertainment giant did not have legal standing to pursue the lawsuit against DeSantis and state Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly, citing legal precedents preventing First Amendment retaliation claims against “facially constitutional” laws.
Winsor also rejected claims against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, created by the Legislature last year to largely govern an area that includes Disney’s Central Florida properties.
The judge, in part, said that the disputed laws do not mention Disney and that their effects would go beyond Disney.
“The laws are directed at a special development district in which Disney operates,” Winsor wrote. “But as Disney acknowledges, it is not the district’s only landowner, and other landowners within the district are affected by the same laws.”
DeSantis’ office celebrated the ruling, with the governor’s spokesman Jeremy Redfern saying that the days of Disney “being placed above the law are long gone.”
“The federal court’s decision made it clear that Gov. DeSantis was correct: Disney is still just one of many corporations in the state, and they do not have a right to their own special government,” Redfern said. “In short — as long predicted, case dismissed.”
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Disney quickly launched an appeal on Thursday. While the federal lawsuit was tossed out, Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District continue to battle in a separate case in Orange County circuit court.
Also on Wednesday, a federal judge refused to issue injunctions sought by pro-Palestinian student groups in First Amendment lawsuits against the state amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
The groups Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida and Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of South Florida launched the lawsuits after state university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues in October issued a “deactivation order” about the groups.
Rodrigues in the memo sought to link the organizations to the National Students for Justice in Palestine, and pointed to a state law that makes it a crime to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled that the students hadn’t shown that their speech had been chilled or that they faced imminent punishment. Walker’s ruling noted, in part, that the groups are continuing to meet and speak out.
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