A federal judge in Florida has disqualified himself from a lawsuit brought by Disney against Governor Ron DeSantis, but not before accusing the governor’s legal team of “rank judge shopping.”
In a ruling late Thursday, Mark E. Walker, the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, said he would no longer preside over the case, filed by Disney last month. Disney accused Mr. DeSantis and a board of directors overseeing Disney World’s government services from participating in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
The case was reassigned to Judge Allen C. Winsor, who was appointed to the court by President Donald J. Trump in 2019.
Lawyers for Mr. DeSantis had attempted to disqualify Judge Walker, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, for twice last year citing Mr. DeSantis’ actions against Disney in unrelated lawsuits. The attorneys argued that Judge Walker’s terse remarks, made while asking hypothetical questions, “could reasonably be construed as reflecting the court’s anticipation of Disney’s retaliatory theory here, and therefore cast significant doubt on the impartiality of the court.”
Disney lawyers opposed the disqualification request — and Judge Walker agreed with them. He ruled that the quoted comments “cannot raise substantial doubts about my impartiality in the mind of a fully informed, disinterested layman.”
But to a surprise, Judge Walker backed down, saying he learned last week that a relative of his owned 30 shares of Disney stock.
He said in his ruling that he had no choice but to resign because his family member’s “financial interests” could be affected by the case. “The size or dollar amount of the financial interest of the third-degree relative does not matter,” he wrote.
Disney declined to comment.
In related news on Thursday, Mr. DeSantis named Charbel Barakat, a Tampa lawyer and “Jeopardy!” champion, to fill a vacancy on the five-member board that oversees Disney World’s government services and is at the center of the battle between the governor and the corporation. Mr. Barakat replaces Michael A. Sasso, who resigned from the board of directors without cause last week and whose wife, Meredith Sasso, was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court the following day.
Mr. DeSantis and Disney have been sparring since March 2022 over a special tax district that Disney World is part of. The fight began when the company criticized a Florida education law that opponents labeled “Don’t Say Gay” for restricting classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation. Disney’s criticisms angered Mr. DeSantis, who repeatedly vowed to pay back.
Since then, at the urging of Mr. DeSantis, Florida lawmakers have targeted Disney, the state’s largest taxpayer, with several hostile measures. In February, they gave Mr. DeSantis control of Disney World’s government departments, rendering the company incapable of self-running its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county.
The board members appointed by Mr. DeSantis soon learned that a previous Disney-controlled board had approved contracts that spelled out a growth plan for the resort. An attempt to nullify those agreements has resulted in dueling lawsuits, with Disney suing Mr. DeSantis and his allies in federal court and dismissed the governor’s tax district appointees in state court.
