The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has responded to Disney’s Motion to Dismiss the state-level case against it. As a reminder, there are two lawsuits ongoing between Disney and the CFTOD. In the federal case, Disney is the Plaintiff, primarily suing DeSantis, but also the CFTOD Board of Supervisors on claims that generally hinge on DeSantis’ actions violating Disney’s First Amendment rights. In the state-level case, Disney is the Defendant and is being sued by the CFTOD. This article will focus on the state-level case, but there was a recent Motion to Dismiss by DeSantis in the federal case. Let’s jump into the latest filings.
In a June 19th Response in Opposition to Disney’s Motion to Dismiss, the CFTOD argues that Disney’s Motion to Dismiss should not be granted by the court. This is expected. Back in mid-May, Disney filed a Motion to Dismiss the state-level lawsuit brought by the CFTOD, arguing that the lawsuit brought by the CFTOD was mooted by Senate Bill 1604 – a bill that DeSantis signed into law effectively nullifying a contract between CFTOD (via the outgoing Reedy Creek Board) and Disney.
CFTOD’s complaint challenges the validity of the Contracts on various procedural and substantive grounds. Those challenges have been mooted by the enactment of Senate Bill 1604, through which CFTOD obtained the exact result it seeks in this state court lawsuit. The Legislature has forbidden CFTOD from complying with the Contracts, rendering them immediately void and unenforceable. Fla. Stat. § 189.031(7). In the Governor’s own words, they “are revoked.” This Court accordingly cannot provide meaningful relief to either party: A ruling in CFTOD’s favor would be pointless, and a ruling in Disney’s favor would be meaningless.
Now, the CFTOD has responded to Disney’s Motion to Dismiss, saying that “Disney’s motion is classic Imagineering, inviting the Court to make believe that reality is whatever Disney dreams up”.
In the Response, which you can read in its entirety (minus exhibits) below, the District argues that the lawsuit it brought against Disney is not moot. Essentially, the main points of the Response are that Disney is arguing that SB1604 is unconstitutional, thus requiring a Court decision on the Development Agreement and that Disney did not perfect service on the Board which would be one way to invalidate a “priority principle” that Disney argues in favor of.
The CFTOD says it will ask Judge Margaret H Schreiber for a final summary judgment soon so that it can “get on with the business of government without Disney claiming that the Agreements hamstring the District’s legislative authority”.
A hearing on Disney’s Motion to Dismiss will be held on Friday, July 14th at 2pm.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!