Disney Suit Against DeSantis Assigned to Obama-Appointed Judge

Walt Disney Co.’s lawsuit against Ron DeSantis alleging political retaliation was assigned to a federal judge who has frequently ruled against the Florida governor’s conservative agenda.

US District Judge Mark Walker, who was appointed in 2012 by President Barack Obama, drew the case after Disney filed its complaint Wednesday in federal court in Tallahassee, Florida’s state capital.

Disney claims DeSantis’s moves to strip the company of control over the jurisdiction in which its Florida theme parks sit are unlawful punishment for its opposition to a 2022 law limiting gender identity and sexual orientation instruction in public schools. The governor has seized upon the fight with Disney to depict himself as standing up to “woke” corporations.

Read more: Disney Sues DeSantis Alleging Political Push to Hurt Company

But Walker has previously shown little sympathy for DeSantis’s policy objectives in the past. The judge ruled against Florida’s ban on some workplace bias and diversity training, saying it violates employers’ free-speech rights. Walker also blocked part of a law restricting how race and gender can be taught in state universities.

In March 2022, the judge struck down parts of a state voting law restricting absentee ballot drop boxes, third-party registration drives and other measures designed to make voting easier. In his ruling, Walker said the right to vote was “under siege” and said Florida lawmakers enacted the law “with the intent to discriminate against Black voters.”

DeSantis called Walker’s ruling “performative partisanship” that would fall on appeal.

‘Positively Dystopian’

Walker has shown rhetorical flourishes in taking on DeSantis-backed laws. The judge began his November decision partially blocking restricting state university instruction on race and gender by quoting George Orwell’s 1984: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Walker went on to describe the new law as “positively dystopian” and said it likely violates the First Amendment.

It wasn’t the first time Walker invoked a dystopia in describing DeSantis’s policies. In his August ruling on workplace diversity training, the judge suggested life under those policies would be akin to the grim monster-plagued “Upside Down” world in the Netflix series Stranger Things.

All three rulings have been appealed to the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals.

Read more: Disney’s Emboldened Iger Escalates Fight With Florida’s DeSantis

Walker, a lifelong resident of the state, earned undergraduate and law degrees at University of Florida. A onetime public defender, he became a state circuit court judge in 2009 and presided over 135 trials. After Obama nominated him to the federal bench, Walker was confirmed by the US Senate in a 94-0 vote.

To contact the reporter on this story:
David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Lin at alin364@bloomberg.net

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