Disney sidesteps DeSantis Board

[Solauren]

DeSantis can't save his ass at all at this point.

Anything he does, it's going to backfire.
Use up his own funds? Now he's bankrupt, and that's ammo for his political opponents.
Uses state funds? More Ammo. Can we trust him with our taxes when he uses it for himself?
Settles with Disney? He surrendered to a corporation! Can we trust him when he gives up that easily?
Loses to Disney? He was beaten by a corporation! Can we trust him when he loses that easily?

DeSantis's only chance right now is to back off from Disney, apologize for 'over-reacting on a sensitive issue I'm passionate about', and 'listening to bad advice', and pray that the public forgets about it by the next election.

[bilateralrope]

I wonder how many companies who would have normally donated to his campaign have already decided that he won't see a cent from them. Along with how angry he will get when he finds out.

[Solauren]

I wonder how many companies that were considering investment in Florida have decided not to, and what he'd do if he found out.

[LadyTevar]

DeSantis's only chance right now is to back off from Disney, apologize for 'over-reacting on a sensitive issue I'm passionate about', and 'listening to bad advice', and pray that the public forgets about it by the next election.

I really don't see him backing off. So far, he's been seen as the type to double-down, and I don't see that stopping now.

He probably will get angry that corporations are backing away from him and Florida due to his actions, but I don't see it changing his actions. He's got this idea in his head and he's running with it straight to the cliff.

[Lord Revan]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

[Solauren]

"Go Woke, Go Broke" is in reference to ideas that promote 'wokism', and similar approaches, not being well thought out and not gaining any traction, essentially turning into wastes of money, or backfiring.

Like so many movements, it's turning into 'good idea, over-done/badly executed'.

[bilateralrope]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

It's quite telling that when I asked someone a similar question on Reddit, their only example was Bud Light. An example too recent to see any trend towards a negative outcome.

Two other thoughts:
- Disney isn't going to settle for anything that doesn't come with a repeal of the laws they are complaining about. That's going to be a problem for any settlement as I doubt that settlement agreements can directly cause law changes. Any settlement would have to be contingent on Florida repealing those laws through the normal legislative process by a specific date.

- If Disney loses, that would be a SCOTUS ruling that corporations can be punished for their speech. Meaning a crack in Citizens United. I can't see that happening from this SCOTUS

[Lord Revan]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

- If Disney loses, that would be a SCOTUS ruling that corporations can be punished for their speech. Meaning a crack in Citizens United. I can't see that happening from this SCOTUS

Isn't this still at state level and not in federal level? So in supreme court of the State of Florida but not in the Supreme Court of the United States.

[bilateralrope]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

- If Disney loses, that would be a SCOTUS ruling that corporations can be punished for their speech. Meaning a crack in Citizens United. I can't see that happening from this SCOTUS

Isn't this still at state level and not in federal level? So in supreme court of the State of Florida but not in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Disney filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which appears to be a Federal court after a quick google.

But even if it's a state court, I don't see Disney giving up. They will appeal any loss to a higher court until they hit SCOTUS. DeSantis will likely do the same. Florida will likely fund DeSantis' defense, so I can't see either running out of money.

[Lost Soal]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

- If Disney loses, that would be a SCOTUS ruling that corporations can be punished for their speech. Meaning a crack in Citizens United. I can't see that happening from this SCOTUS

Isn't this still at state level and not in federal level? So in supreme court of the State of Florida but not in the Supreme Court of the United States.

They're suing for multiple violations of the US Constitution, that makes it Federal.

[LadyTevar]

Disney filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which appears to be a Federal court after a quick google.

But even if it's a state court, I don't see Disney giving up. They will appeal any loss to a higher court until they hit SCOTUS. DeSantis will likely do the same. Florida will likely fund DeSantis' defense, so I can't see either running out of money.

As I pointed out on the last page, Disney is *not* suing Florida, or even the Governor's office. They are suing DESANTIS, Himself, personally.
Thus, DeSantis should *not* be using Florida Public Funds to defend himself.

If he's stupid enough to use Public Funds, or even a Governor's Discretionary Funds on this lawsuit, he'll just have given Disney and all his other opposition rope to hang him with. This should also apply to trying to use Florida's Attorney General, or any lawyer connected to Florida State Government to defend himself.

[Solauren]

Would DeSantis using the resources of the State of Florida to defend himself from a personal lawsuit, be enough to have get him removed from office by the Florida State Government?

Because, that seems like a very large conflict of interest and abuse of power (no one else in Flordia could even attempt to do that).

And might be what Disney is hoping for.

[Lost Soal]

Would DeSantis using the resources of the State of Florida to defend himself from a personal lawsuit, be enough to have get him removed from office by the Florida State Government?

Because, that seems like a very large conflict of interest and abuse of power (no one else in Flordia could even attempt to do that).

And might be what Disney is hoping for.

Really? He's currently using tax payer funds to run for president, not having announced is a BS technicality, and in response to this the Senate is retroactively excluding his travel costs from the Sunshine Law and have/are changing the law so Desantis doesn't have to resign to run for President.
Doesn't matter if Disney are suing him personally, they are suing for his actions as Governor, that's all the cover he needs to have Florida foot the bill.

[bilateralrope]

Disney filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which appears to be a Federal court after a quick google.

But even if it's a state court, I don't see Disney giving up. They will appeal any loss to a higher court until they hit SCOTUS. DeSantis will likely do the same. Florida will likely fund DeSantis' defense, so I can't see either running out of money.

As I pointed out on the last page, Disney is *not* suing Florida, or even the Governor's office. They are suing DESANTIS, Himself, personally.
Thus, DeSantis should *not* be using Florida Public Funds to defend himself.

If he's stupid enough to use Public Funds, or even a Governor's Discretionary Funds on this lawsuit, he'll just have given Disney and all his other opposition rope to hang him with. This should also apply to trying to use Florida's Attorney General, or any lawyer connected to Florida State Government to defend himself.

For a moment, imagine a hypothetical where a corporation sues a governor over a law that they don't like. But, unlike Disney, the corporation doesn't have strong case. But they can outspend the governor if the governor is limited to their personal funds. Do you like that scenario ?

Because I don't. The only way I can see to prevent it is for the state to help pay for the defense. Even in cases where it's likely the corporation can win on the merits.

So I don't think that attacking DeSantis for using state funds that he can legally access to defend himself will go as well as you hope. Better to attack him on all his other problems.

and have/are changing the law so Desantis doesn't have to resign to run for President.

I did some quick googling about the resign to run law and found something interesting:

In 1970, the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that Florida's resign-to-run law could not be applied to candidates running for Congress. The court found that the law violated Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2, of the Constitution by providing an additional qualification not provided by the Constitution for election to Congress.[4] That same year, in a separate case, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black questioned the constitutionality of the same statute.[5]

If the resign to run law was found to be unconstitutional when running for US Congress, I'd expect a similar ruling when it comes to someone running for president.

Not that it will make it to court as the resign to run law was appealed on the 28th.

[Rogue 9]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

It's quite telling that when I asked someone a similar question on Reddit, their only example was Bud Light. An example too recent to see any trend towards a negative outcome.

You see it a lot said about smaller businesses. Indie tabletop game publishers get that thrown at them a lot (but Paizo hasn't gone under yet).

[Jub]

You see it a lot said about smaller businesses. Indie tabletop game publishers get that thrown at them a lot (but Paizo hasn't gone under yet).

Most indies in such a saturated market will go under no matter what they do. The tabletop market is a hard one to break into and getting a second print run for even a moderate hit is far from a sure thing.

[bilateralrope]

You see it a lot said about smaller businesses. Indie tabletop game publishers get that thrown at them a lot (but Paizo hasn't gone under yet).

Most indies in such a saturated market will go under no matter what they do. The tabletop market is a hard one to break into and getting a second print run for even a moderate hit is far from a sure thing.

The only tabletop company I follow regularly puts out kickstarters for new books. Looking at the amount the raise and how long it takes to release each one, I doubt there is anyone working full time there. Also they mainly do digital and print-on-demand.

Picking an industry where the companies regularly have a hard time is also quite telling. If there was anywhere where they could point to woke businesses doing worse, they would spread that among themselves.

We are talking about people who have started complaining that some companies are getting too "political" and deserve to be punished for it. When their definition of "political" is "disagreeing with dear leader" and/or something like this.

[Broomstick]

You know the funny thing to me about this whole "Go woke, go broke" rhetoric DeSantis is pushing, I can't recall any major company that suffered major economic down turn, let alone filed for bankruptcy due to "Going woke" (what ever that happens to mean this week).

At most, a company target by that attitude has suffered a very brief drop in profits. Then the Rabid Right is off to their next outrage.

Most don't really see any effect.

It's quite telling that when I asked someone a similar question on Reddit, their only example was Bud Light. An example too recent to see any trend towards a negative outcome.

While sales of Bud Light might briefly drop (and even that is not certain) the idiots frothing at the mouth over this seem clueless that the parent company Anheuser Busch, owns a lot of other common beer brands. So for some of the boycotters they either switch to another brand owned by the same company or they have to essentially give up their favorite poison.

And that's why most of the companies targeted don't really suffer for it. The exceptions might be very small, niche companies.

[Broomstick]

Disney filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which appears to be a Federal court after a quick google.

Yes, that is a Federal Court. The appeals would go up the ladder to the US Supreme Court, not the State Supreme Court of Florida. As this deals with constitutional rights that is the appropriate venue.

[bilateralrope]

While sales of Bud Light might briefly drop (and even that is not certain) the idiots frothing at the mouth over this seem clueless that the parent company Anheuser Busch, owns a lot of other common beer brands. So for some of the boycotters they either switch to another brand owned by the same company or they have to essentially give up their favorite poison.

And that's why most of the companies targeted don't really suffer for it. The exceptions might be very small, niche companies.

Yes, I saw some mention of people switching from Bud Light to other brands under the same owner.

As for Bud Light, I did see an article saying there was a 17% drop compared to the same week last year. No discussion of other possible causes, so I don't know if their sales were down before they angered the bigots. But the article also said that sales were expected to recover.

[Solauren]

You see it a lot said about smaller businesses. Indie tabletop game publishers get that thrown at them a lot (but Paizo hasn't gone under yet).

Most indies in such a saturated market will go under no matter what they do. The tabletop market is a hard one to break into and getting a second print run for even a moderate hit is far from a sure thing.

Given sex change, appearance, and race change magic have been part of RPGS since Chainmail became Dungeons and Dragons, 'going woke' was never a thing with them, as it was all already possible.

[LadyTevar]

DeSantis-appointed Oversight Board Countersues Disney

A board appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that oversees Disney's special district has voted to sue Disney, the latest in an escalating feud between the state's Republican governor and the entertainment giant.

It comes a week after Disney filed a suit against Mr DeSantis.
The board had "no choice now but to respond", to Disney's lawsuit, board chairman Martin Garcia said on Monday.

"We'll seek justice in our own backyard," he said, US media reported.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is expected to officially file the lawsuit later on Monday.

The BBC has reached out to Disney for comment.

The row between Florida's Republican governor and Disney began after Disney criticised the state's Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.
The measure initially banned education about sexual orientation and gender identity for pupils aged nine and under, and was recently expanded to cover all grades.

The feud with Disney - which opened the city-scale Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971 and is one of the state's biggest employers - has elevated the profile of Mr DeSantis, who is widely seen as a potential Republican candidate for president.

After the company expressed its opposition to the bill early last year, Mr DeSantis has sought to exert more government control over Disney's Orlando-based theme parks.
He signed a bill in February subjecting Disney to more layers of oversight through a five-member state-appointed board.
But the governing body said its powers were curbed by a last-minute agreement that gives the entertainment giant almost total control over development in the district.

State officials later voided the agreement.

Disney asked the court to undo this move in its own lawsuit against Mr DeSantis, arguing it was a part of broader efforts by the governor to "weaponise government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials".
The entertainment company alleged Mr DeSantis had engaged in "a targeted campaign of government retaliation" against the firm.

Mr DeSantis has pledged to take on and win "every single issue involving Disney".

[Zaune]

Of course, the question of whether DeSantis can be removed from office over this whole Disney thing runs into the minor issue that there's a decent chance he'll order the "state defence force" or whatever he's calling them to arrest the state senators who voted to get rid of him rather than leave office.

[AniThyng]

For a moment, imagine a hypothetical where a corporation sues a governor over a law that they don't like. But, unlike Disney, the corporation doesn't have strong case. But they can outspend the governor if the governor is limited to their personal funds. Do you like that scenario ?

Because I don't. The only way I can see to prevent it is for the state to help pay for the defense. Even in cases where it's likely the corporation can win on the merits.

I'm surprised this isn't being commented on more, it does seem incredibly concerning that a corporation can sue a government official as an individual and not as the office holder! What am I missing?

[bilateralrope]

For a moment, imagine a hypothetical where a corporation sues a governor over a law that they don't like. But, unlike Disney, the corporation doesn't have strong case. But they can outspend the governor if the governor is limited to their personal funds. Do you like that scenario ?

Because I don't. The only way I can see to prevent it is for the state to help pay for the defense. Even in cases where it's likely the corporation can win on the merits.

I'm surprised this isn't being commented on more, it does seem incredibly concerning that a corporation can sue a government official as an individual and not as the office holder! What am I missing?

Going off my memory of lawsuits against Trump, the DOJ can substitute itself for the defendant in cases where Federal employees face civil lawsuits for doing their job. With the DOJ having a lot of discretion on deciding if the lawsuit really is about the federal employees official duties.

I don't know if Florida has something similar. Though if I were Disney, I'd let DeSantis be the first to mention it.