OPB is reporting that a Florida judge dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against the State of Florida. I’m not great with legal matters, but there is a line in the article that has me a tad confused and possibly considerably concerned:
Winsor said the law prohibits plaintiffs from bringing a free speech challenge to constitutionally enacted laws.
So Ron DeSantis, in an attempt to out-fascist Trump, signed a law that banned public acknowledgement of gay people. Disney criticized the bill as being harmful (which I understand it absolutely is). DeSantis responded with more fascism and removed the Disney-run city government that seems to have been working for 50 years and then replaced it with a council he controls to punish Disney for having first amendment rights. (I don’t think Disney does, as only people can have rights, but we’re currently living under the delusion that corporations are more human than human.) Disney sued to remove this council which is apparently considering using its “oversight” to toll every road and raise taxes and basically punish people who live there for living there.
This is all bad enough, but it’s the quote above that really bothers me.
It seems to imply that the law that infringes on people’s first amendment rights is declaring people cannot sue to change that law on the grounds that it infringes on people’s first amendment rights.
Do I have that right?
How is this legally possible? How can a state remove a citizen’s Constitutionally guaranteed right? Isn’t this just nullification in disguise?