By Mike Schneider
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --A federal judge overseeing the First Amendment lawsuit that Walt Disney Parks filed against Gov. Ron DeSantis and others is disqualifying himself, but not because of bias claims made by the Florida governor.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in a court filing Thursday that it was because a relative owns 30 shares of Disney stock. Walker described the person as "a third-degree relative," which typically means a cousin, a great-aunt or great-uncle, or a great-niece or great-nephew.
The governor's lawyers had filed a motion to disqualify Walker last month because he had referenced the ongoing dispute between the DeSantis administration and Disney during hearings in two unrelated lawsuits before him dealing with free speech issues and fear of retaliation for violating new laws championed by the governor and Republican lawmakers.
Disney had opposed the governor's motion, saying the judge had shown no bias.
The judge on Thursday called DeSantis' arguments "without merit." DeSantis declared his candidacy for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination last week.
Under the code of conduct for federal judges, Walker wasn't required to look into the financial interests of third-degree relatives but did so and decided that "disqualification from this proceeding is required under the circumstances," he said.
"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," said Walker, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama.
The feud between DeSantis and Disney started last year after the company, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed legislation concerning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades that critics called "Don't Say Gay."
As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney World's governing district through legislation passed by lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors. Before the new board came in, the company signed agreements with the old board made up of Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of design and construction authority.
In response, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature passed legislation allowing the DeSantis-appointed board to repeal those agreements and made the theme park resort's monorail system subject to state inspection, when it previously had been done in-house.
Disney filed the First Amendment lawsuit against the Florida governor and the DeSantis-appointed board in April, claiming violations of free speech and the contracts clause. The DeSantis-appointed board, known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, sued Disney in state court in Orlando seeking to void the deals the company made with the previous board.
DeSantis on Thursday named Tampa attorney Charbel Barakat to the oversight board to replace Michael Sasso, who resigned last month around the same time the governor appointed Sasso's wife, Meredith, to the Florida Supreme Court.
Sean “Diddy” Combs seeks bail, citing changed circumstances and new evidence
Sean "Diddy" Combs filed a new request for bail on Friday, saying changed circumstances, along with new evidence, mean the hip-hop mogul should be allowed to prepare for a May trial from outside jail.
Lawyers for Combs filed the request in Manhattan federal court, where his previous requests for bail have been rejected by two judges since his September arrest on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
He has been awaiting a May 5 trial at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn.
In their new court filing, lawyers for Combs say they are proposing a "far more robust" bail package that would subject the entertainer to strict around-the-clock security monitoring and near-total restrictions on his ability to contact anyone but his lawyers. But the amount of money they attach to the package remains $50 million, as they proposed before.
They also cite new evidence that they say "makes clear that the government's case is thin." That evidence, the lawyers said, refutes the government's claim that a March 2016 video showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend occurred during a coerced "freak off," a sexually driven event described in the indictment against Combs.
They wrote that the encounter was instead "a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship" between Combs and his then-girlfriend.
The lawyers argued that the jail conditions Combs is experiencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn violate his constitutional... Read More