The Manila Times

DISNEY SUIT VS DESANTIS DISMISSED

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A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which claimed he had illegally retaliated against the entertainm­ent giant for criticizin­g his “anti-woke” agenda.

The Republican governor and Disney — whose theme park in central Florida is one of the state’s largest employers — have been at loggerhead­s since 2022 when the company spoke out against a DeSantis-backed education bill concerning LGBTQ youth.

At the time, DeSantis was seen as a rising right-wing star who could potentiall­y displace former president Donald Trump as the Republican 2024 standard-bearer.

After Disney’s criticism, DeSantis pushed the Republican­controlled legislatur­e to revoke its special self-governance arrangemen­t, which had allowed the city-sized theme park to run its own zoning and infrastruc­ture projects.

Disney later sued DeSantis, characteri­zing his actions as a “targeted campaign of government retaliatio­n” that violated the company’s right to free speech.

District Judge Allen Winsor, a Trump appointee, dismissed the lawsuit on Wednesday on the grounds that the company lacked legal “standing” to take DeSantis to court.

Disney pledged to appeal the ruling, saying in a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the case has “serious implicatio­ns for the rule of law.”

“If left unchalleng­ed, this would set a dangerous precedent and give license to states to weaponize THEIR OFfiCIAL POWERS TO PUNISH THE expression of political viewpoints they disagree with,” it said.

DeSantis recently suspended his presidenti­al campaign after it became clear that Republican voters still preferred Trump to be their nominee.

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