Judge tosses Disney’s lawsuit against Ron DeSantis, but the fight’s not over

A federal judge has tossed out Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (R). Disney had sued DeSantis and other state government officials for unconstitutionally retaliating against the company. After opposing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year, the state revoking Disney’s special self-governing zoning agreement and established a new board to oversee the district’s administration. Disney has said it will appeal the judge’s decision.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said that Disney lacked the legal standing to sue the Florida government because its actions were constitutional “on its face,” NBC News reported. “Plaintiff cannot bring a free speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose,” Winsor wrote in his decision.

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The Miami Herald Editorial board fears “three interminable years” of revenge politics.

The judge said Disney’s lawsuit “has not alleged any specific actions the new board took (or will take) because of the governor’s alleged control,” and that the company “has not alleged any specific injury from any board action.”

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“Its alleged injury… is it’s operating under a board it cannot control,” Judge Windsor added. “That injury would exist whether or not the governor controlled the board.”

DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern celebrated the ruling. In a statement, he said, “The Corporate Kingdom is over. The days of Disney controlling its own government and being placed above the law are long gone. The federal court’s decision made it clear that Governor 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.”

However, Disney pledged to appeal the decision, writing, “This is an important case with serious implications for the rule of law, and it will not end here. If left unchallenged, this would set a dangerous precedent and give license to states to weaponize their official powers to punish the expression of political viewpoints they disagree with. We are determined to press forward with our case.”

After Disney spoke out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law — a law which prohibits instruction and discussion of LGBTQ+ issues through third grade and restricts those discussions in higher grades — DeSantis continuously criticized the company in public. Soon after, Florida’s Republican-led legislature revoked Disney’s decades-old special zoning agreement that allowed the company to oversee its 25,000-acre property near Orlando known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

In February 2023, DeSantis signed a bill abolishing the district and then appointed a five-member board to oversee it. One of the board members is Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the anti-LGBTQ+ group Moms For Liberty who has since been caught having threesomes with other women. Another board member is Ron Peri, an anti-LGBTQ+ pastor who believes women on birth control urinate estrogen into tap water, making anyone who drinks the water likely to turn gay, CNN noted.

However, the board’s appointees quickly learned that the previous board sneaked in a last-minute development agreement with Disney, allowing it to maintain much of its autonomy and rendering the new board rather powerless. After the board voted to undo the agreement, Disney sued DeSantis and other Florida officials in April 2023, saying the DeSantis administration’s retaliation against the company violated the company’s right to free speech.

DeSantis also threatened to build a prison next to Disney and called for state oversight of Disney World’s rides. His revenge quest has caused him to be ridiculed by a local paper for declaring “thermonuclear war on a cartoon mouse.” He has also been mocked by Saturday Night Live for having married his wife at Disney World in 2009.

Disney CEO Bob Iger lashed out at the Florida government’s vendetta against the company. Iger said that Disney paid over $1.1 billion in local and state taxes last year and is “the largest taxpayer in Central Florida.” He also noted Disney’s plan to invest $17 billion in Florida over the next ten years, saying, “which is what the state should want us to do.”

Judge Winsor previously dismissed a complaint against Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law. His judicial nomination during the Trump administration was opposed by civil rights organizations in part because of his long history of working on cases to restrict the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people.

He worked on several cases defending Florida’s ban on marriage equality, arguing in one that the state should be allowed to ban same-sex couples from getting married because of “a clear and essential connection between [heterosexual] marriage and responsible procreation and childrearing.”