When State Attorney General Luther Strange took office in 2011 he promised to resolve the controversy over illegal electronic bingo gambling in Alabama through the court system. Now that has been done.
A seemingly endless number of lawsuits and appeals has finally resulted in a definitive ruling that so-called electronic bingo is illegal in Alabama. That was the unanimous decision of the state Supreme Court: “The game traditionally known as bingo is not one played by or within an electronic or computerized machine, terminal or server but is one played outside of machines and electronic circuitry.”
The state Supreme Court, in Houston County Economic Development Authority vs. The State of Alabama, reiterated the criteria for bingo first announced in 2009 when the Supreme Court said bingo must be played on paper cards by a group of people who must mark their own numbers.
Definition of bingo
The court went further by ruling that its definition of bingo applied to all counties in Alabama including those that adopted local amendments permitting bingo for charitable purposes. That means electronic bingo in Alabama is illegal. Period. Final.
Strange shared credit with others for this victory. In a Jan. 7 memo to Alabama law enforcement personnel and district attorneys he said joint efforts of law enforcement agencies and district attorneys around the state resulted in seizure and destruction of thousands of illegal machines, forfeiture of more than a million dollars in illegal funds from gambling operations to the state general fund and the closure of numerous illegal casinos.
He wrote, “I encourage and expect local law enforcement and district attorneys to investigate and enforce our anti-gambling laws just as they would investigate and enforce other laws.” There is the rub.
Some areas of the state have been hesitant to enforce illegal gambling laws. Greene County District Judge Lillie Jones-Osborne told the Greene County Democrat she had “never been a willing participant” in the four Greene County raids on illegal gambling operations carried out in March 2014 by the attorney general’s office.
Jones-Osborne said she signed the search warrants only after being ordered to do so by the Alabama Supreme Court. At one point a local sheriff arrested and jailed state police officers investigating illegal gambling.
In Lowndes County an electronic bingo operation in White Hall restarted despite the court’s latest ruling.
In the process it has been interesting to see local judges dismiss state attempts to stamp out illegal electronic bingo gambling only to have the Alabama Supreme Court overturn the lower court verdicts by unanimous 9–0 decisions. That should be a clear indication of where some local officials place their loyalties.
Most Alabamians know the Phenix City story — local officials looked the other way while gambling and other vices flourished. It was not until massive state intervention through martial law that corruption was rooted out. That is why it was reassuring to read Strange’s memo pledging state efforts to enforce Alabama’s illegal gambling laws would continue. Local officials would not be allowed to thwart state law.
A week later that confidence turned to confusion. Gov. Robert Bentley sent a memo to the distribution list of the attorney general’s Jan. 6 memo. The governor praised the Supreme Court rulings for “providing clear direction to local law enforcement and district attorneys.” He pointed out that local law enforcement and district attorneys hold “the primary duty to investigate and enforce these laws.”
Gov. Bentley observed the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) has limited resources. Therefore ALEA personnel would assist “upon request of local officials.” He urged that local officials who do not enforce state laws be impeached before the Alabama Supreme Court.
The governor’s memo created consternation in some law enforcement officials. Was the governor saying ALEA was not available to enforce Alabama’s illegal gambling laws? Was the governor saying the attorney general’s main weapon going forward would be impeachment? When Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from office in 2003 for failure to follow the direction of the federal courts, that process took 28 months and created chaos for the state legal system.
Would the time required for the legal system to grind through all the required steps to impeach a local official embolden gamblers to go for the quick buck? By insisting that state law enforcement will assist “upon request” was the governor giving a blank check to those who continue to flaunt the law?
Instead of Alabama uniting behind the clear victory against illegal electronic bingo gambling, the state is almost paralyzed because of the uncertainty about how to proceed in enforcing Alabama’s laws in every county.
Executive order
Hopefully this is all a misunderstanding that can be cleared up quickly. After all, Gov. Bentley did write in his Jan. 13 memo that he expects the attorney general “will continue to carry out the responsibilities stated in my executive order No. 1, dated Jan. 18, 2011.”
In that executive order the governor said he “anticipate(s) and expect(s) that Luther Strange, attorney general, will fully and completely enforce the laws of the state of Alabama with respect to anti-gambling, lottery schemes and illegal gambling.”
Perhaps the governor was simply reminding officials that illegal gambling is just one area of responsibility of ALEA. Perhaps the governor was reminding the attorney general that he has another weapon in his arsenal to use against local officials who don’t want to enforce state law — impeachment.
Whatever the case, Alabama’s two top law enforcement officials — the governor and the attorney general — need to clarify the situation quickly. Alabama does not need a replay of these two state officials being on different sides of the illegal electronic bingo gambling issue.
The court has settled the issue of what is legal and what is not concerning bingo in Alabama. There are no more excuses. Now it is time for state law to be enforced and illegal electronic bingo gambling to be stamped out. Both the governor and the attorney general must make that happen.
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