ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seeking to disqualify Chief Judge Mark E. Walker from the federal lawsuit filed last month by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc.
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DeSantis’ motion, filed on May 19, alleges the court’s impartiality “might be questioned.” Disney’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on April 26, named DeSantis among others as violating Disney’s federal constitutional rights under the Contracts Clause, the Takings Clause, the Due Process Clause and the First Amendment.
“This case involves claims that defendants retaliated against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. based on Disney’s viewpoints,” said DeSantis’ motion. “Yet two previous times, in two unrelated cases, the Court sua sponte [or voluntarily] offered ‘Disney’ as an example of state retaliation. Those remarks — each derived from extrajudicial sources — were on the record, in open court, and could reasonably imply that the court has prejudged the retaliation question here.”
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