A nonprofit journalism association wants the Northern District of Florida to protect the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment by determining that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. has established a prima facie case of retaliation against protected speech.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) submitted an amicus brief in support of Disney warning the court that handing Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory could have a chilling effect on the media nationwide.
“The government conduct in question targets a public company, but if the State of Florida and its officials succeed in defending their actions against Disney in this case, governments across the country may be emboldened to take action against not only public companies, but journalists, reporters, and the greater news media when they exercise their First Amendment freedoms,” the July 28 brief states.
Bambauer
| Courtesy photo
The RCFP, founded in 1970 by journalists and media lawyers, provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect and defend First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists.
“I think their interest in the case or their reason for putting resources into this makes sense,” said Jane Bambauer, Brechner Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville. “They are concerned any time a government might take retaliatory action against somebody who has spoken out against the government because the media in general is likely to supply public commentary that runs against the current acting government.”
Bambauer is a co-founder and executive editor of the Journal of Free Speech Law.
As previously reported in the Florida Record, counsel for DeSantis asked the Northern District of Florida to dismiss the lawsuit against him on the grounds of immunity but the RCFP asked the court to deny DeSantis’ motion to dismiss.
“This is a significant First Amendment case,” the brief states. “One of the world’s largest companies has alleged that a state openly acted to punish it for speaking out on issues of public concern—and the State has admitted as much.”
In Walt Disney Parks and Resorts v Ron DeSantis et al, Disney accuses DeSantis of violating the First Amendment with targeted government retaliation for opposing House Bill 1557.
Also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, House Bill 1557 prohibits schools from teaching elementary school students about sexual orientation or gender identity.
“The evidence Disney needs to prove retaliation is that they were being sanctioned or punished,” Bambauer told the Florida Record. “The evidence is not hard to bring in. It's an interpretation of the facts that everyone already agrees on are accurate. So, it's more of a legal issue than a factual issue that will determine whether this is a good retaliation claim or not. This is a hard one. It goes right to the difficult parts of a very tricky free speech issue.”