In Ron DeSantis’s wars on free speech, the LGBTQ+ community, Black history, Black voters, pregnant people, and immigrants, the victims are clear. The other people being victimized by the laws being signed as part of the Florida governor’s absurd “war on woke”? Florida taxpayers, who are literally paying for the lawsuits that follow.
The Guardian reports that “lawsuits from various communities whose rights have been violated have been stacking up against” against DeSantis, and “residents [who] are already struggling with costs of living” are being forced to cover the tab. “The list of legal challenges precipitating from DeSantis’s unconstitutional laws is endless,” Democratic state senator Lori Berman told the outlet. “We’ve seen Floridians rightly sue many if not all of the governor’s legislative priorities, including laws that restrict drag shows for kids, prohibit Chinese citizens from owning homes and land in Florida, suppress young and Black and brown voters, ban gender-affirming care and threaten supportive parents with state custody of their children, and of course, all the retaliatory legislation waged against Disney for coming out in support of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. And fighting these suits—which falls to taxpayers—does not come cheap.
For instance, when it comes to DeSantis’s feud with Disney—which landed on the governor’s bad side for having the audacity to speak out against his “Don’t Say Gay” law—lawyers representing the governor are reportedly charging nearly $1,300 per hour in fees. (“Disney is a perfect example. It doesn’t hurt any Floridians. There is nothing. It’s creating a legal issue out of nowhere and now Disney sued so they have to respond and that is going to cost taxpayers’ money,” Democratic state senator Tina Polsky told The Guardian. “The whole Disney case is just because of DeSantis’s ego and his hurt feelings.”) When it comes to defending DeSantis’s “anti-woke” laws, the DC-based firm Cooper & Kirk was reportedly paid nearly $2.8 million as of last June. In December, reports the Miami Herald, DeSantis racked up nearly $17 million in legal costs—and counting.
And of course, state Republicans are apparently more than happy to have taxpayers cover the “soaring” tab:
“We’re in a litigious society,” the state Senate president told the Tallahassee Democrat, with the Senate budget chair adding, ironically: “We want the governor to be in a comfortable position to speak his mind.” In an interview with The Guardian, Fentrice Driskell, Florida’s Democratic House leader, said: “The legislature is supposed to be a check on executive power. By giving him a carte blanche to go and fight these wars in court, it’s basically just saying that there are no checks and balances when it comes to the state government in Florida. It’s a waste.”
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Bess Levin
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