Judge assigned to Disney's lawsuit against Ron DeSantis disqualifies himself from presiding over the case

Judge Mark E. Walker has disqualified himself from presiding over Disney's lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Walker denied Ron DeSantis' motion to remove him from the case but decided disqualification was required due to a family member owning a small amount of stock in The Walt Disney Company.

The case has now been assigned to 46 year old Orlando-born Republican Judge Allen C Winsor, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California

Walker said in his order on disqualification.

"Although Defendant's motion to disqualify is without merit, I must consider a separate question of whether I should disqualify myself. On Friday, May 26, 2023, I learned, and later confirmed, that a relative within the third degree of relationship owns thirty shares of stock in Plaintiff's parent corporation, The Walt Disney Company. Upon learning this information, I became obligated to engage in a separate inquiry pursuant to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges to determine if the financial interest of my third-degree relative "could be substantially affected by the outcome of [this] proceeding." I have engaged sua sponte, stemmed from my doubt that I could set aside my resentment of the movant's scurrilous attacks on my family. Of course, in explaining my reasons for disqualification in Kelly, I am certainly not inviting parties to judge-shop by making scurrilous attacks on my family in future cases. I pause to note that the Code of Conduct for Unites States Judges does not impose a duty on judges to inquire into the financial interests of third-degree relatives. See Canon 3C(1)(d)(iii) in that inquiry and determined that disqualification from this proceeding is required under the circumstances.

You can read Walker's full filing here.

In the motion filed May 19, DeSantis claimed that Walker should disqualify himself from the case to "prevent even the appearance of impropriety." The claim relates to two unrelated cases where the Court offered "Disney" as an example of state retaliation.

Walker was nominated to serve as district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida by President Barack Obama in 2012 and became chief judge in June 2018.