Judge recuses himself from Disney-DeSantis case: ‘I choose to err on the side of caution’

The federal judge overseeing Disney’s First Amendment case against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has removed himself from the case after the state had pushed to disqualify him from the case.  

Disney is suing DeSantis over what it says is a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” for publicly opposing Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeSantis requested that U.S. Chief District Judge Mark Walker be disqualified from the case last month, alleging that previous comments made by Walker demonstrate a lack of impartiality. 

“Those remarks — each derived from extrajudicial sources — were on the record, in open court, and could reasonably imply that the Court has prejudged the retaliation question here,” the motion stated. 

Disney pushed back on the motion at the time, saying that the comments made by Walker are “year-old hypothetical questions” based on “widely-publicized statements” that “did not make any findings about those statements.” 

Walker, who was appointed by former President Obama, wrote in a 14-page order that while DeSantis’s motion to disqualify him was “meritless,” he will remove himself from the case because he recently discovered that a “third-degree” relative of his owns 30 shares of stock from Disney.

“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. “Maintaining public trust in the judiciary is paramount, perhaps now more than ever in the history of our Republic.” 

“I am confident that my colleagues on this court can preside over the remainder of this case and judge it fairly and wisely,” Walker added.  

Disney’s case will now be reassigned to Judge Allen Winsor, who was appointed by former President Trump.