Judge assigned to Disney's lawsuit against Ron DeSantis disqualifies himself from presiding over the case

Jun 01, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

Posted: Thursday June 1, 2023 7:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Judge Mark E. Walker has disqualified himself from presiding over Disney's lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Walker denied Ron DeSantis' motion to remove him from the case but decided disqualification was required due to a family member owning a small amount of stock in The Walt Disney Company.

The case has now been assigned to 46 year old Orlando-born Republican Judge Allen C Winsor, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Walker said in his order on disqualification.

"Although Defendant's motion to disqualify is without merit, I must consider a separate question of whether I should disqualify myself. On Friday, May 26, 2023, I learned, and later confirmed, that a relative within the third degree of relationship owns thirty shares of stock in Plaintiff's parent corporation, The Walt Disney Company. Upon learning this information, I became obligated to engage in a separate inquiry pursuant to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges to determine if the financial interest of my third-degree relative "could be substantially affected by the outcome of [this] proceeding." I have engaged sua sponte, stemmed from my doubt that I could set aside my resentment of the movant's scurrilous attacks on my family. Of course, in explaining my reasons for disqualification in Kelly, I am certainly not inviting parties to judge-shop by making scurrilous attacks on my family in future cases. I pause to note that the Code of Conduct for Unites States Judges does not impose a duty on judges to inquire into the financial interests of third-degree relatives. See Canon 3C(1)(d)(iii) in that inquiry and determined that disqualification from this proceeding is required under the circumstances.

You can read Walker's full filing here.

In the motion filed May 19, DeSantis claimed that Walker should disqualify himself from the case to "prevent even the appearance of impropriety." The claim relates to two unrelated cases where the Court offered "Disney" as an example of state retaliation.

Walker was nominated to serve as district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida by President Barack Obama in 2012 and became chief judge in June 2018.

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mkt9 days ago

Something something gabagool something

MisterPenguin9 days ago

Ohh? Talkin' bout Wegman's are we? The pastrami?... To die fohr.

Figgy110 days ago

It's pronounced Joisey;)

JoeCamel10 days ago

I can hear the accent in that post

Figgy110 days ago

When in the Orlando area we usually shop at Whole Foods over Publix

dmc49310 days ago

@Figgy1 those there are fighting words, bring it on

Figgy110 days ago

Wegmans is much better than Publix for just about everything

LAKid5310 days ago

You needed to go to the #1 party school. 😉 The Publix next to FSU's campus...and right across from fraternity row...was quite buzzing on Wednesday nights. I learned quickly to avoid it on that night.

Comped10 days ago

Really? I've never heard of that and I've been to multiple Publixes around UCF campuses while a student haha.

Captain Barbossa10 days ago

Lucky Florida. All the Publix’s in my area are where the local senior swinger clubs convene 🤢

MisterPenguin10 days ago

That's a Florida wedding shoot.

mkt10 days ago

Brian10 days ago

Sir, this is a Publix thread.

eddie10410 days ago

What good does DeSantis provide being in the Senate ? His personality is as lackluster as his policies and with Trump back in the White House his political future is based on his success. Nobody is gonna be checking for those type of politicians any longer if the next four years turns out be garbage.