On Thursday night, a federal judge in Florida recused himself from a case filed last month by Disney against Governor Ron DeSantis, while also criticizing the governor’s lawyers for “rank judge shopping.” Disney alleges Gov. DeSantis and a board that oversees government services at Disney World have engaged in “a targeted campaign of government retaliation.”

Judge Mark E. Walker, a Barack Obama appointee, and the Chief Justice for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, said he would no longer preside over the case, citing concerns of potential conflict of interest or perceived bias. In the 14-page ruling, he wrote:

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.

Lawyers representing DeSantis sought to disqualify Judge Walker due to his prior mention of DeSantis’ actions against Disney in unrelated court cases. The Governor’s legal team argued that the judge’s remarks:

…could reasonably be understood to reflect that the court has prejudged Disney’s retaliation theory here, and therefore create significant doubts about the court’s impartiality.