Walt Disney World and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been involved in a legal battle for well over a year now that seems destined to be decided in the courts. Having said that, both sides are working hard to try and prevent the various legal challenges from actually making it that far. The DeSantis team has filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit brought by Disney, and in its official response, Disney calls what the Florida government is doing an "ongoing constitutional mutiny."
According to Deadline, Disney’s brief even refers to the fact that Ron DeSantis publicly stated that he might consider putting a state prison on Walt Disney World property, as well as potentially a rival amusement park, as evidence that the goal was to undermine Disney’s interest and control Disney’s speech, rather than simply to remove special favors as the governor claims.
Originally, there were several counts at issue in Disney’s federal lawsuit, but recently the theme park company amended its lawsuit, and Disney dropped several claims to focus entirely on the question of the First Amendment violation. Disney claims that under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the company has free speech, and the governor’s moves to change Disney World’s special district have been a violation of that speech.
The governor claims that the lawsuit should be dismissed under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the idea that a government official cannot be sued over the decisions made as part of executing the office. But if Disney’s argument, that this is a constitutional violation, holds up, then sovereign immunity does not apply.
This motion to dismiss will certainly be a big decision. If the court sides with Disney, then the lawsuit moves forward, and we could end up with a federal decision on the issue at hand, one that could potentially reverse many of the changes that have taken place at Walt Disney World over the last year.
Following Disney's public condemnation of a Florida law, called "Don't Say Gay" by detractors, DeSantis had the Reedy Creek Improvement District transformed, and its board, previously made up of residents of the district, were replaced by people picked by DeSantis. This move, while initially popular with some Reedy Creek employees, has reportedly led to significant resignations from within the district who don't feel the new board is up to the task.
However, even if the lawsuit is dismissed, there is still the chance that a court could impact the future of the resort. At the state level, Disney World is suing, and being sued by, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the name of the special Florida district that used to be called Reedy Creek which oversees Walt Disney World. The new board is looking to invalidate a land deal made between Disney World and the previous board. A Florida law, one of those Disney World takes issue with in the Federal suit, already does this.
