The public war of words between Ron DeSantis and Bob Iger has generated the most attention in the ongoing legal battle between Disney World and the State of Florida, but if you actually read the legal briefs their lawyers have been firing back and forth, there’s quite a bit of heat and sass. Last month, lawyers from The Mouse House accused Governor Desantis of being in “open defiance of our nation’s most cherished liberties,” among many other middle fingers. Now, the Governor’s lawyers have fired back, saying he “welcomes” the company’s “surrender.” They also called Disney’s last legal brief a “glorified press release” as part of their argument that the politician has sovereign immunity and can’t be sued for anything he does or says within the course of his duties.
There’s a lot here and the legal arguments are a bit complicated; so, let’s talk this out and give a basic overview of what’s been going on (or you can check out this full timeline). For a long time, Disney World essentially governed itself through an entity known as Reedy Creek. After Governor DeSantis pushed a new law limiting what teachers can and cannot say in the classroom (a bill critics referred to as Don’t Say Gay), Disney put out a press release saying it disagreed with the legislation. Afterwards, the Governor essentially told Disney the party was over and appointed a new board to oversee the theme park and start monitoring it in a way it hadn’t been subjected to before. A series of complicated, back-and-forth moves then followed to wrestle control back and forth, one of which even involved Prince Harry's daughter.
When Disney CEO Bob Iger returned following his multi-year retirement, he sued Governor DeSantis, claiming he retaliated against the company for taking a political stance, which infringes on its basic rights. Attorneys for the politician responded and said he has sovereign/ legislative immunity and can’t be sued for decisions he made as Governor. Disney responded and said he can be sued for violating its First Amendment rights, and now, DeSantis’ lawyers are reasserting everything that’s happened was within the course of his duties.
The latest legal brief from the Florida lawyers is thirteen pages and is available to be read in its entirety over at Deadline. It essentially argues that Governor DeSantis can’t be accused of wrongdoing because it was within his power to appoint a new board to oversee Reedy Creek, and he can’t be held liable for anything those board members then do. He lacks the power to enforce any new restrictions or measures himself, and he can’t be held responsible for the actions his political appointees take, as it’s not directly on his behalf. Here’s a quote from the legal brief…
The Governor welcomes Disney’s surrender on all of its claims challenging his legislative acts. As for the claims Disney continues to press, Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor for those actions and has not overcome his sovereign immunity for the reasons discussed above.
Right now, what is happening is essentially a series of legal maneuvers in which both sides are laying out the framework of their cases ahead of a potential trial. The Governor’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out by claiming he’s not eligible to be sued for what happened. Disney is arguing that he can because of their First Amendment rights. There’s also a bit of back and forth over timeline. Governor DeSantis would like to push that trial to further in the future, as he’s currently running for President. Disney would like to push the trial date up. Expect to see a lot more jostling and a lot more sassy legal briefs before this is all over.
