Can you say Cha-ching? As the taxpayer legal costs are just starting. (Bloomberg) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trampled Walt Disney Co.’s constitutional right to free speech by dissolving the company’s debt-issuing district as punishment in a political fight, three residents claim in a lawsuit.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/desantis-violating…
Walt
Walt,
Can you say Cha-ching? As the taxpayer legal costs are just starting.
That’s the plaintiffs’ problem. In a civil lawsuit, each party is responsible for its own legal expenses unless a law specifically provides otherwise – and such cases are rare.
But I don’t expect this lawsuit to go very far. There’s a legal issue called standing to sue, and only the injured party has it.
With respect to the issue of infringement of Disney’s right to free speech, the injured party is Disney – NOT the plaintiffs in this case – so only Disney has standing to sue. (Note, BTW, that withdrawal of a special privilege does not constitute “punishment” that would infringe Disney’s rights.)
And with respect to a potential tax increase to pay off Reedy Creek’s bonds, the courts consistently have held that a party is not injured until the party is actually compelled to pay the tax or levy – which, in this case, is not even assessed yet. The plaintiffs won’t have standing to sue on this issue until the county assesses a levy, or at least votes or otherwise commits to do so. (Note, BTW, that the governor has stated that a plan to deal with Reedy Creek’s bonds will be announced shortly, and that taxpayers of the affected counties would not foot the bill. Thus, the feared levy may never come to pass.)
So this suit is headed for summary dismissal because the plaintiffs lack standing to sue on every issue that they raised.
It seems pretty obvious that this lawsuit is politically motivated and rooted in very bad legal advice. If I were the judge, I would seriously consider holding the plaintiffs’ attorneys in contempt for wasting the court’s time with a case that was so clearly meritless.
From your quote: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trampled Walt Disney Co.’s constitutional right to free speech…
Ah, the constitution guarantees the right to free speech, but it does not guarantee that the exercise of free speech won’t have political or social consequences detrimental to the speaker. What was that adage about winning the battle but losing the war?
Norm.