Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves after holding a news conference at Anna Maria Oyster Bar Landside in Bradenton, Fla., on Sept. 20. MUST CREDIT: Photo for The Washington Post by Thomas Simonetti (Thomas Simonetti)
The federal judge assigned to Walt Disney Co.'s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has recused himself from the case.
Disney's suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida accuses DeSantis of engaging in political retaliation over the entertainment giant's opposition to a controversial education law. U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker opted Thursday to remove himself from the proceedings because a "relative within the third degree of relationship" owns 30 shares of the Disney stock, he wrote in his decision.
Walker wrote that he could not be sure that the trial would not "substantially affect the value" of his relative's stock.
"Even though I believe it is highly unlikely that these proceedings will have a substantial effect on The Walt Disney Company, I choose to err on the side of caution - which, here, is also the side of judicial integrity - and disqualify myself," Walker wrote.
DeSantis's legal team filed a motion last month calling for Walker's recusal. John Guard, who is representing DeSantis as Florida's chief deputy attorney general, argued that Walker had brought his own impartiality into question through his handling of two previous cases, both of which concerned heavily politicized rulings on DeSantis-approved legislation.
Despite Walker's ultimate decision, he rejected the DeSantis arguments about potential bias. "I find the motion is nothing more than rank judge-shopping," wrote Walker, an Obama-appointed judge who has ruled against DeSantis-approved legislation in the past, including on free-speech issues.
Neither Disney nor the DeSantis administration immediately responded to requests for comment.
DeSantis and Disney have been engaged in a public war of words for more than a year. The feud started when Disney expressed opposition to a Florida education law that critics dubbed the "don't say gay" law restricting discussion of sexual orientation in public school classrooms. It spiraled into an argument over Disney's control over the special tax district around Disney World, with the governor packing the theme parks' governance board with a handpicked group of conservative allies.
Disney filed its lawsuit against DeSantis in late April. The DeSantis-appointed oversight board for the Disney district filed a countersuit in state court just days later.
