I am thrilled. I get so sick of watching mental retreads like Hank Williams Jr., Roger Clemens, and Ted Nugent spout off stupid, racist shit, and then when their employers vote with their feet, they whine about their First Amendment Rights being abused. Sorry, shitheads. The First Amendment protects people from government retaliation when they speak out against it.
Due to its unique position as not only the largest employer in Florida, but by far and away the largest driver of tourism to Florida, the only reason for the state to exist, the Disney complex outside of Orlando has enjoyed a special privilege. More than 50 years ago the Florida legislature designated their property as a special development zone. Basically it frees Disney from much of the state, county and local rues other companies have to follow. Which saves Disney billions.
If Disney wants to build a road on their property, they do it, no permits or zoning required. They have their own police and fire departments. I like to compare the Disney complex to Vatican City in Rome, two little sicy states that exist autonomously in larger states.
This morning, the Florida Senate voted on and passed a bill that would strip the Disney complex of its special development zone privileges . It now goes to the House for debate and a vote. If it passes, Governor Ron Pissantis, the driving force behind the bill assures he will sign it. If that happens, with the stroke of a pen, Disney has to follow the same rules as everybody else. And Pissantis will come out looking like the biggest schmuck since Gomer Pyle.
The minute Pissantis signs that bill into law, a legion of Disney lawyers will descend on a federal court, and file a lawsuit, including a stay to keep it from going into effect. The law is so utterly unconstitutional that even a legal ignoramus like Sydney Powell wouldn’t go to court to defend it. It is a flagrant First Amendment Rights violation.
The logic is so simple and straightforward it’s almost juvenile. Consider the case. Pissantis engineered a trans and homophobic Don’t Say Gay law that restricts teaching or discussing gay and trans issues in Florida grade schools, even family members. Disney, and inclusive company with absolutely no desire of offending their gay and trans employees and patrons, immediately jumped Pissantis’s shit publicly, vowing to do everything vowing to do everything in its power to overturn the law, either through the courts, or through the legislature. Read that as Sayonara to any Disney campaign donations to GOP politicians until this situation gets itself unfucked. Pissantis responds by moving t strip Disney’s special development zone designation, potentially costing the company billions.
How simple can it be? Government says or does something stupid. Private citizens and companies call out government for being so stupid. Government responds by taking steps to retaliate against said citizens and companies for no other reason than their daring to disagree with Big Brother. If this isn’t a textbook case of First Amendment violations, I don’t knw what is, and Pissantis is too stupid to be dogcatcher, much less Governor.
In one of his many satirical quips, vonnegut’s character Kilgore Trout, as a science fiction writer, wrote a story about Jesus’ crucifixion where the masses got their comeuppance. The lesson, per vonnegut, was never crucify anyone with connections. It’s one thing to fuck over the powerless,(most of us), it’s quite another to take on a billion dollar company that is the gas in Florida’s economic engine. DeSantis belongs in jail for numerous reasons. We won’t get as lucky as the Germans in April 1945 when Hitler shot himself after only 12 years in a thousand year Reich. I will hope DeSantis is found in a suitcase floating under a bridge headed to key west. God knows how many gay kids he is DIRECTLY responsible for getting killed. This is goddamn war. War. Nothing more. Nothing less.
He’s done that, now he can dictate which with his restricting who can vote. He just signed that into law. How isn’t that illegal?
I think it must be something else he signed…The Senate just passed it this morning…I’m pretty sure it couldn’t have passed the House the sae day..There’s debate, markup, etx…
I’m not a lawyer but it sure seems to me like this is a case of a state government attempting (it will probably succeed) to impose a penalty on a corporation that does (major) business in its state for voicing and opinion about the state’s policy. Basically, Disney calls out the Governor (and by extension the GOP) for being intolerant with the passage of a specific law and stating they will strongly support attempts to overturn it including in the legislature. People and businesses do that kind of thing all the time – advocate for and against laws they like or dislike. A government even at the local level can (and sometimes does so) retaliate in some usually subtle ways, but in this case DeSantis hasn’t just said the quiet part out loud, he has been screaming it with a bullhorn. Boiled down he’s said “Ok Disney – you wanna criticize ME then I’M going to fuck you over” and he met with his cronies in the legislature to do just that.
But as you say Disney simply exercised First Amendment rights which a GOVERNMENT cannot abridge. Much as in this case conservatives wish it wasn’t there it’s plain text stuff. Also you point out how conservatives whine about when they get all hateful and bigoted that their unpopular opinions are free speech. The thing is, individuals organizing boycotts and even corporations (which conservative “Justices” have defined as people I might add) aren’t the government. In this case it IS a government entity quite publicly retaliating.
Two provisions in the Constitution leapt to mind after I read your article. Ex Post Facto laws (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/ex_post_facto )and Bills of Attainder. Sadly (no) thanks to Salmon P. Chase precedent at a Stare Decisis level has held since just after the Civil War that Ex Post Facto only applies to criminal punishment. FL’s actions in this instance would be Civil in nature. Leaving aside the can of worms that might be opened (we are in a different age where corporate money and super-rich individuals own the majority of elected critters) I can’t see this particular SCOTUS weighing in on the matter, much less coming to a conclusion that Stare Decisis on this matter is worth overturning. (This isn’t after all about limiting women’s reproductive rights or rolling back the rights of workers, minorities, etc.)
However (and again I’m not only a lawyer, I’m not a Constitutional Scholar either) but this might be an issue of FL passing a Bill of Attainder (https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-1/section-9/clause-3/bills-of-attainder ) to punish Disney. As noted in the link the Nixon case was purely a Civil matter, so SCOTUS would have a more difficult time blowing this off. Also, a properly framed and short argument for us laypersons about this Constitutional aspect (If I’m correct and it applies) might knock DeSantis and the FL GOP back on their heels some.
There are of course the economic reasons why what FL is about to do stupid. Whether in FL it is politically stupid I’m not so sure about. I don’t get the place. I’ve never even been there – not even at an airport during a stopover despite the fact I’ve been to around forty of our states. That’s another story and a long one but the GOP lock on that state’s politics has never made sense to me. Oh well. Disney might not have ALL the resources of a state as large and wealthy as FL but it’s got more than enough to go toe-to-toe with them in court and I’m betting much better lawyers than the state of FL has. Granted, the initial and appellate rounds will take place in front of a bunch of GOP hacks who shouldn’t be federal judges at all and not many will pay close attention unless, or more likely until Disney requests an En Banc appellate review of the case but the real fun will happen when this inevitably gets sent to SCOTUS for consideration. It takes four Justices saying yes to grant Cert for them to actually hear the case, but this is freaking Disney we are talking about. Personally I never liked Disney even as a kid but even someone like me has to admit they are an American Institution and a pretty beloved one at that.
John Roberts is probably already shitting himself over the implications this case will have on his legacy.
I have a sinking feeling the reactionary morons, six to be exact, will have no problem not only denying First Amendment rights were violated but ignoring the fact that a major fucking business is being inconvenienced which ought to alarm the federalist society big time. I think those six idiots will do anything up to and including ignoring any and all amendments in the constitution if it means persecuting the LGBT crowd, people of color, non-xtians, and of course women.
Yeah, Roberts ought to be shitting himself because his legacy is turning into what is likely building up in his pants.
I am infuriated by what they would do if the situation were reversed. Let’s assume we are talking about a solidly blue state and if you’re old enough imagine Sears back in its heyday. A major international corporation based in Chicago and unlike Disney with stores all over the state (and country). A HUGE economic engine for Illinois. Imagine if Sears didn’t like Sears’ stance on some big national issue that was a progressive priority – say immigration reform and the Gov. and legislature got in a snit and passed something specifically designed to fuck over the company and cost it (over time) billions in revenue, even though it would also cost the state huge in tax revenue. Sears would have of course gone to court and ultimately it would wind up before SCOTUS. This SCOTUS would slap that Democratic Governor and Legislature down so hard they’d need a trip to the ER!
“The law is so utterly unconstitutional that even a legal ignoramus like Sydney Powell wouldn’t go to court to defend it.”
I haven’t read more of the article yet, nor the comments, but I have to disagree with you, Murf. I have absolute faith in Powell’s total ignoramusishness (ignoramusity?) to defend ANY law or matter without even considering whether she’ll get paid for the job or not as long as it gets her publicity.
Disney won’t suffer much. Frankly, if the MAGAts stay home, Disney will.survive because MAGAts have a 2 week attention span. Once the temps climb to 90, they will.find something else to obsess about that they can screech about INDOORS with air conditioning. They tried boycotting back in the 1990s over Gay Day which was organized by gay groups, not Disney.. It failed.
This, with any luck, will.be refused s hearing by the Supremes. It kinda violates Citizens United.
I wonder if Disney can incorporate itself as a town/city.
This is not about a boycott. Did you read the article? Disney is right now effectively it’s own city, this law strips that away.