Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project and Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is quoted in “Conservative Media Cheering DeSantis Crackdown on Disney are Ignoring What a Catastrophe it Would be for Florida” posted on mediaite.com on April 21.

The opinion piece by Sarah Rumpf, focuses on retaliatory regulation against Disney by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for Disney’s opposition to the Parental Rights in Education Bill (Florida HB 1557) also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeSantis’ threat to dissolve Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) could have economic impacts on both Disney and many Central Florida counties and service workers.

According to Calvert, this “implied threat” within the statute to comply or face the revocation of the RCID’s powers could constitute a violation of Disney’s free speech rights.

Calvert said it was ironic “how radically this issue has flipped over,” with the GOP-controlled Legislature going from enacting a special carve-out for Disney in a social media anti-censorship law, to now specifically targeting Disney for retaliation.

“Singling out a business in a way that detrimentally affects its free speech rights is always problematic and constitutes ‘textbook viewpoint discrimination,’ which is ‘presumptively unconstitutional,’” said Calvert.

Calvert will participate in a Zoom webinar discussion about HB 1557 on April 26 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Calvert will join Sarah Lynne, UF associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, to review the bill. Registration for the webinar is available at https://ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_abtDTx3vS6-7-U3Xi1IjFA

Posted: April 22, 2022
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project