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Disney Eyes 2024 Trial Date; DeSantis Wants to See If He's POTUS First

The Walt Disney Company eyes a Summer 2024 trial date for its lawsuit, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is thinking after the POTUS election.

While 2024 GOP POTUS nominee, Donald Trump's stepping stool & Florida Governor Ron DeSantis awaits word on whether or not his motion to have The Walt Disney Company's lawsuit dismissed will be given a green light, it looks like (surprise! surprise!) both parties have very different timelines on when the trial should get underway. For "The Mouse," July 15th, 2024, is a date that works for them – but not for DeSantis. Ronnie's thinking more along the lines of… say… August 4, 2025? And why does that date matter? Because it would be set after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election – which DeSantis plans on being a part of (unless Trump picks him off on the campaign trail well before the real fighting gets underway). And you can only imagine the "shenanigans" that would be in play regarding that lawsuit if DeSantis actually did win. Ugh.

In addition, DeSantis and his co-defendants (Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity and the board members selected by DeSantis to serve on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) want a freeze on the discovery process (which is expected to include an impressive amount of documents, testimony, and more) until a ruling on their motion to dismiss. In court filings, DeSantis' team wrote, "The scope of discovery will be dictated by the claims that remain following the disposition of those motions, if any" (though Disney countered that delaying the discovery process "will cause substantial harm."

DeSantis Looking for Disney Lawsuit Dismissal, Claiming Immunity

On Tuesday, we learned that DeSantis' legal team is looking to get Disney's lawsuit dismissed on two counts: that DeSantis has immunity from prosecution and that the federal district court hearing the lawsuit lacks jurisdiction. "Although Disney grabbed headlines by suing the Governor, Disney – like many litigants before it who have challenged Florida's laws — has no basis for doing so. Neither the Governor nor the Secretary [of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity] enforce any of the laws at issue, so Disney lacks standing to sue them," DeSantis' attorneys wrote in their submitted motion.

Essentially, DeSantis people are claiming that the governor had the right to "absolute legislative immunity" in these matters – including DeSantis signing legislation in an effort to further take control of the Reedy Creek special district, even if done as retaliation (as Disney claims in its lawsuit). In its motion, DeSantis' lawyers argue that the governor does not enforce the legislation simply "because he signed it" and that "When the governor signs a bill, he acts in a legislative, not executive, capacity."

In addition, the governor's lawyers argue that the only power that DeSantis has over the Reedy Creek special district is to appoint members and that the actions of the board are apart from the governor and his office. Applying the same argument to "The Mouse's" claim that the governor also violated the contract clause found in Florida's constitution, the lawyers make the case that DeSantis has no authority to enforce any contracts that Disney has with the state.

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