DeSantis proposes Disney trial schedule that puts start date in 2025, after elections
Jun 28, 2023, 2:04 PM
FILE - Mickey and Minnie Mouse perform during a parade as they pass by the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Jan. 15, 2020. After appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over Walt Disney World’s governing district in 2023, its firefighters were among the few employees who publicly welcomed them with open arms. But that warm relationship is in jeopardy now as a new administrator has reopened negotiations on a new contract that promised pay raises and more manpower for the more than 200 unionized firefighters and other first-responders. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis have asked that a trial involving Disney be postponed until the middle of 2025, well after the GOP presidential nomination race wraps up and voters have picked a winner in the November 2024 general election.
In a Tallahassee federal court filing Tuesday, attorneys for the Florida governor, who is seeking the Republican nomination, and his appointees to a board that governs Disney World outlined a proposed schedule that requests an Aug. 4, 2025, trial date.
Disney claims in its lawsuit that its free speech rights were violated by the takeover of its governing district in retaliation for opposing the so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation DeSantis championed. In the same filing, Disney proposed a July 15, 2024, trial date, which is around the same time as the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Both sides also disagreed about when a motion should be filed asking the judge to make a decision in favor of one side without a full trial. Disney proposed filing its motion for summary judgment at the start of April 2024, while DeSantis’ attorneys said it should be exactly a year later, at the start of April 2025.
Earlier this week, DeSantis and his appointees to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, put it on hold or drop them as defendants.
The DeSantis appointees took over the Disney World governing board earlier this year following a Don’t Say Gay.
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by the Republican-led Legislature and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels. But before the new board came in, the company made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and construction.
In response, DeSantis and Florida lawmakers passed legislation that repealed those agreements.
Disney sued DeSantis and the five-member board, asking a federal judge to void the governor’s takeover of the theme park district, as well as the new oversight board’s actions, on the grounds that they violated the company’s free speech rights.
The board sued Disney in state court in an effort to maintain its control of construction and design at Disney World.
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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
