Disney Loses Its Judge in the Florida Feud
The thing about Hail Mary passes is that, in some rare instances, the play works.
Some Florida politicians including Governor Ron DeSantis are appreciating that fact this morning as an unlikely turn of events has aided their cause.
Here’s what just happened.
We’ll Have a New Judge in the Florida Feud
Photo: Fox35Orlando.com
In late April, The Walt Disney Company finally filed a lawsuit against Florida’s governor as well as the members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).
At the time, I conversed with several lawyers and judges, requesting their opinions on the case.
To a lay person, they indicated that the law prohibitively favored Disney.
Photo: Orlando Weekly
That’s a strange thing to say since Florida’s gerrymandered legislature literally writes the laws in the Sunshine State.
However, federal law works differently, as other national reporters acknowledged after they discussed the case with legal experts.
We all learned the same thing, which is that Citizens United alone gives Disney strong standing before we factor in the First Amendment.
Photo: Disney
Still, a couple of attorneys laid out some scenarios in which DeSantis could find some legal footing.
You can think of the whole thing akin to Dr. Strange evaluating millions of probabilities and finding the one way his side could win.
That’s pretty much what just happened in Florida yesterday, as the honorable U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker did the honorable thing.
The governor had previously filed a motion to disqualify Walker, a request Disney’s attorneys (correctly) found laughable.
Somehow, this desperation legal gambit has succeeded, as Walker has, in fact, removed himself from the case.
In doing so, the judge eviscerated DeSantis and his team for judge-shopping, though.
What Is Judge-Shopping, and Why Does It Matter Here?
(Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)
We live in strange times when court appointments have become a basic part of the law. Due to political division, judge-shopping is a thing.
Basically, someone with Republican leanings would prefer a federal judge appointed by former President George W. Bush or Donald Trump.
(Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)
Someone with Democratic leanings would prefer a federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama or current President Joe Biden.
I should stress that the overwhelming majority of American judges are respectful of the law and don’t allow their personal feelings to interfere.
Photo: Disney
Alas, some recent revelations involving a sitting Supreme Court justice and some other problematic cases have shaken the foundation of societal faith in the system.
In the process, judge-shopping has become a hot-button issue. DeSantis and his team are unquestionably attempting this tactic.
As I previously mentioned, Judge Walker has ruled against DeSantis multiple times.
Photo: Disney
On several of the occasions when Florida’s governor lost in federal court, Walker was the ruling judge.
Given the political capital DeSantis has invested in his Disney feud, he desperately needs a win here.
Having any judge other than Walker oversee the case dramatically increases the governor’s odds of getting an early victory.
As a reminder, this case is likely to face multiple appeals, but the first ruling carries added significance.
Appeals courts aren’t statistically likely to overturn rulings.
Depending on which data you believe, the chances vary between one in five and one in fifteen.
In other words, the odds are slim at best of winning a case if the first ruling goes against you.
For this reason, people like DeSantis judge-shop to find appointees more favorable to their side of the argument.
Getting Judge Walker off this court was crucial for DeSantis in the Florida Feud.
The Reason Judge Walker Recused Himself
Photo: Disney
The DeSantis filing claimed that Judge Walker couldn’t make a fair evaluation of the case due to previous comments.
In two unrelated legal matters, Walker had held up Florida’s shady actions with Reedy Creek/Disney as an example of bad faith.
The CFTOD legal team argued that Walker had already made up his mind on the case before it ever reached his docket.
Photo: Disney
Importantly, Judge Walker dismissed the DeSantis legal team’s filing. The judge fully agreed with Disney on this matter.
Walker indicated that the CFTOD attorneys had cherry-picked some of his comments, which wasn’t reason enough for him to recuse himself.
Here is the judge’s official comment on the matter:
Credit: Freeform
“My use of hypothetical questions referencing facts related to this case, in an earlier case also dealing with the motivations of political actors (including some of the same actors here), cannot raise a substantial doubt about my impartiality in the mind of a full informed, disinterested lay person…”
Despite this fact, Walker recused himself anyway. His rationale is noble but probably irritated Disney’s attorneys.
According to the judge, he discovered a family member owned 30 shares of Disney stock, an amount with a current value of $2,700 or so.
Walker suggested that his relative could materially gain from his ruling, which he felt was a strong enough reason to disqualify himself from the case.
Realistically, Walker knows that this isn’t true. Even in the wildly unlikely event the stock increased 50 percent after the ruling, it’d still be a profit of only $1,350.
Instead, Walker recognized that some appellate court may perceive his prior comments as pre-judging the case and overrule him.
What Walker Said and Why Disney Isn’t Happy
Photo: Disney
For his part, the federal judge didn’t find the behavior of DeSantis’ attorneys acceptable.
Walker didn’t hold back in assailing their actions, stating:
“I find the motion is nothing more than rank judge-shopping. Sadly, this practice has become all too common in this district.”
Photo: Pixar
In other words, Walker believes that DeSantis and his team frequently seek judges who will respond favorably to his behavior, whether it’s lawful or not.
Walker’s ruling suggested a huge win for Disney…at first. However, once he revealed that he was disqualifying himself anyway, everything changed.
The new federal judge assigned to this case is Judge Allen C. Winsor. Walker left a message for his successor:
“I am confident that my colleagues on this Court can preside over the remainder of this case and judge it fairly and wisely.”
Alas, Disney is now understandably nervous about whether this will happen.
Why This Change Is Bad for Disney
According to legal experts, the kind of judge likely to overlook the law and favor DeSantis is someone who is a recent Republican appointee, preferably a member of the Federalist Society.
Donald Trump appointed Judge Winsor in 2019 after the candidate had previously failed to win a qualifying vote in the United States Senate.
In other words, Winsor’s candidacy triggered political debate over his qualifications as an unbiased judge.
Image Credit: Disney/D23
Winsor has also been a member of the Federalist Society since 2005.
On paper, this judge looks like Disney’s worst nightmare and DeSantis’ greatest hope.
However, there’s a different way to look at the change in circumstances. If DeSantis cannot win with this judge, he’s totally out of luck.
Photo: Disney
The other hidden factor here is that DeSantis is running against Trump for the Republican nomination for President.
A Trump appointee could feasibly deal DeSantis a devastating legal blow.
Photo: Disney
So, there’s a lot more in play now that Walker, an Obama appointee, won’t be ruling on the case.
Still, this turn of events feels like a Hail Mary TD throw for DeSantis’ legal team. They did everything wrong but got the desired outcome anyway.
Photo: MickeyBlog
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