Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference during which he signed a bill to guard the digital rights of Floridians, on June 6, 2023 in Wildwood, Florida.
Paul Hennessy | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Attorneys for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that a trial in Disney‘s civil lawsuit against him must be scheduled months after the November 2024 presidential election.
DeSantis asked for the trial to begin Aug. 4, 2025, greater than two years after the corporate filed its grievance. But Disney contends it should begin on July 15, 2024, in response to a filing in federal court in Tallahassee dated Tuesday.
If the court agrees with Disney, then the political retaliation case against DeSantis would go to trial on the primary day of the Republican National Convention. The GOP governor is a top contender for the party’s nomination for president.
Disney declined to comment on whether its proposed trial date was a coincidence or a deliberate move. Lawyers for DeSantis didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis and other Florida officials is just the most recent battleground in a long-running feud between the state’s powerful governor and one in every of its top employers.
Shortly after Disney criticized the controversial state classroom bill derided as “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, DeSantis and his Republican allies targeted the special tax district that has allowed Florida’s Walt Disney World to effectively self-govern its operations for many years.
In February, DeSantis replaced the district’s five-member board along with his preferred picks. In March, those latest members accused Disney of stripping them of their power by striking long-term development contracts shortly before they took charge. The DeSantis-backed board accused the corporate of undermining its authority over the district and voted to void the contracts.
Disney sued, alleging a “targeted campaign of presidency retaliation” by DeSantis in response to speech protected by the First Amendment. The corporate is asking the court to revive the contracts and Disney World’s self-governing status. The board has countersued in state court.
The most recent federal court filing — a joint report following a June 15 videoconference between the parties within the case — got here at some point after DeSantis filed a motion to dismiss Disney’s lawsuit. His attorneys argued that he and no less than one other defendant are “immune” from the suit and that Disney lacks standing to sue them.
DeSantis’ lawyers argued within the joint report that the evidence-sharing process ahead of trial, often called discovery, must be paused pending the end result of the bid to dismiss the case.
Disney’s lawyers opposed that request. They argued that doing so “will cause substantial harm” since the alleged political retaliation against the corporate is ongoing.
Attorneys for DeSantis and the opposite defendants said they think it’s “premature” to set a case schedule due to their pending efforts to dismiss the litigation. The lawyers proposed a schedule that will have the invention process accomplished by Jan. 3, 2025.
Disney suggested that that process must be wrapped up a yr earlier.
