NEWS: DeSantis Lawyers File Last-Minute Motion To Throw Out Disney Lawsuit

This week, the Disney v. Gov. Ron DeSantis court hearings will begin. We are all eagerly awaiting to hear how this long-term feud will finally end.

©Disney | Walt Disney Studios

Over a year ago, Disney spoke out against a bill backed by Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis. It was after leveraging their freedom of speech, that DeSantis dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District and replaced it with his appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Disney chose to sue the governor, claiming that he used his governing position to “punish” the entertainment company. But just hours before the hearings would begin, DeSantis has asked the federal judge to throw out the lawsuit.

According to CBS News, the evening before the formal court hearings were set to begin, DeSantis’s attorneys requested that the lawsuit over Disney’s freedom of speech be dismissed. They claim that DeSantis is immune from the case because he doesn’t enforce any of the laws that “removed supervision of the government from Disney supporters.”

@CNBC

This is not the first time DeSantis and his attorneys have called for this lawsuit to be dismissed. Earlier this year, DeSantis called for it to be dropped stating that Disney lacked any standing to sue them. Over the months, this same tune has been played by the DeSantis party, continuing to say DeSantis has no enforcement power and therefore there’s no legal standing for Disney in the case.

©Governor DeSantis’s Website

In August, DeSantis’s lawyers stated, “Disney’s alleged injuries are neither traceable to theStateDefendants nor redressable by an injunction against them, so it lacks standing.“ DeSantis, himself, issued a reply to the motion to dismiss the lawsuit which stated, “The Governor welcomes Disney’s surrender on all of its claims challenging his legislative acts” He added that the complaint was nothing more than a “glorified press release.”

Ron DeSantis During a Press Conference in 2020

In this most recent motion for dismissal, DeSantis’s lawyers, again, state that Disney lacks standing to file the case. They claim that neither DeSantis nor the secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (who is also named in the lawsuit) has the power to enforce the laws that were passed to change the Disney World government and replace the Disney board with the governor’s appointees.

Obtained via Click Orlando Livestream

While this hearing is at the federal level, Disney is in the midst of another battle in a state lawsuit with the DeSantis appointees of the new district. That lawsuit is to determine control over the board since the Reedy Creek board was removed and replaced.

The current, appointed board members of the CFTOD are also named in the federal lawsuit.

RCID

Disney responded to the motion for dismissal with a request to deny it saying that DeSantis and his appointees have used political institutions to punish unfavorable viewpoints. “That premise is not just legally unsupported, it is profoundly un-American,” Disney stated.