The battle between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the future of Walt Disney World has seen what could turn out to be a significant development. The DeSantis legal team had moved to disqualify Judge Mark E. Walker who was set to hear the dueling lawsuits between the two sides, on the grounds that he was biased. Walked has now ruled that he will disqualify himself, though he did it for reasons unrelated to what the DeSantis camp was claiming, and he took a shot at the Governor’s legal team on his way out the door, accusing them of “rank judge shopping”.
The motion to disqualify Judge Walker was based on the argument that he had made comments on the record in other cases that used the ongoing battle between Walt Disney World and Ron DeSantis as an example of state retaliation, exactly what Disney is claiming they are on the receiving end of in their lawsuit against DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Disney opposed the motion, saying that the Judge’s comments did not rise to the level of requiring disqualification.
