Federal Judge Tosses Out Disney Lawsuit Accusing Governor DeSantis of ‘Government Retaliation’

A federal judge dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against Florida governor Ron DeSantis and members of a state tourism board for alleged “government retaliation,” after the company publicly excoriated DeSantis’s Parental Rights in Education Act — dubbed by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

DeSantis and other defendants had urged U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor — a Trump-nominated judge in Tallahassee — to dismiss the case because Disney could not sue the government over constitutionally enacted state laws.

“Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor or the Secretary,” the judge said in his ruling, according to a court filing. Winsor also determined that the company’s claims against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight district failed. “When a statute is facially constitutional, a plaintiff cannot bring a free-speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose.”