Florida Governor Ron DeSantis asks court to dismiss Disney's Lawsuit

Jun 26, 2023 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Posted: Monday June 26, 2023 5:30pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has filed a motion asking the court to dismiss Disney's lawsuit against him.

In the motion, DeSantis says, "The Court should dismiss the amended complaint, or at minimum, dismiss all claims against the State Defendants."

DeSantis claims, "Its last-ditch power grab having been foiled under state law, Disney now turns to federal constitutional law to sue the Governor, the Secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the CFTOD Board, and CFTOD’s Administrator. Its claims are meritless for many reasons, not least of which is that a special district cannot bind the State to transfer a portion of its sovereign authority to a private entity."

You can read the full 27 page motion here.

Disney claims in its lawsuit filed in a federal court that there has been "A targeted campaign of government retaliation-orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech-now threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights."

The Walt Disney Company has filed a federal lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District

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lazyboy97o2 hours ago

The settlement acknowledged the “need” to change the comprehensive plan, which undermines this idea. So too does the lack of an agreement, as the 2032 Comprehensive Plan wasn’t that different than the again in force 2020 Comprehensive Plan.

Brian3 hours ago

That's understandable for sure. I just felt inclined to make the distinction due to the ongoing conversation, as the district administrator is selected by the board, while the board is selected by the governor.

mkt3 hours ago

The new agreement will be functionally the same as the one Disney was sued over.

pdude813 hours ago

You're right. This has been going on so long I just lumped all the antagonists together.

Brian3 hours ago

Not to nitpick, but Gilzean was district administrator, not a board member.

pdude814 hours ago

A bigger risk than keeping Garcia and Gilzean on the board as active disruptors? I don't agree with their decision to stall the federal lawsuit, but I understand why they saw the status quo as a risk to growth over the next few years.

lazyboy97o8 hours ago

You don’t think dropping your bargaining power in the middle is the best strategy in a negotiation?

flynnibus8 hours ago

Again… we know nothing except both sides have shown signs of positive attitude and certainty of successful outcomes. What does that mean? None if us know. All we can speculate is… they know a lot more than they have said publicly… and obvious things like "desantis is not perpetual…" were clearly obvious to them when they made these choices.

UNCgolf8 hours ago

That seems wildly optimistic.

flynnibus8 hours ago

“Right now…” Yes, we all know this. But again, we don’t know what back room deal they have setup. Who knows… it could even include new legislation promises… Or Disney is just rolling with the hand they are dealt… maybe they have accepted that the time to sunset their advantages of rcid is here… none of us can tell what their true intentions are right now.

UNCgolf8 hours ago

Just because it's not popular now doesn't mean it won't be popular in the future -- also, depending on the governor, they may not care if it's popular overall as long as it's popular enough to their base. That's a pretty big risk to take for Disney.

pdude8112 hours ago

Other than it not being popular at all with the voters in Florida or nationwide. I don't see an upside to the next governor going after the mouse, but I could be missing something.

UNCgolf12 hours ago

I think the biggest problem for Disney is what happens with a new governor who isn't beholden to any agreements DeSantis made. Right now there's nothing stopping a new governor from reverting back to an obstructionist board or any other thing they feel like doing on a whim.