With one stroke of his pen, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley undid five years of exhaustive work to rid Alabama of illegal gambling. Instead of having one definition of illegal gambling enforced statewide, Bentley has declared that each county is to be guided by its own respective interpretation of Alabama’s laws regarding illegal gambling.
The governor made that announcement Nov. 5 at the same time he announced he had removed Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange from leading efforts to enforce the state’s laws against illegal gambling. Now local sheriffs and district attorneys in each county will enforce laws against illegal gambling as they see fit.
What a travesty. In 2012 when the attorney general attempted to get Macon County officials to issue a warrant to search VictoryLand, a notorious illegal gambling site, local officials refused saying there was not probable cause. In Greene County, home of Greenetrack and other illegal gambling venues, local officials bragged in print of how they obstructed the attorney general’s investigation of illegal gambling in that county.
These local officials contend their electronic gambling machines are legal despite the Alabama Supreme Court consistently ruling that electronic bingo is a form of lottery and illegal throughout the state.
The state Supreme Court said it plainly: “The game traditionally known as bingo is not one played by or with an electronic or computerized machine, terminal or server but is one played outside of machines and electronic circuitry.”
Yet county officials in various parts of the state continue to openly allow illegal gambling. Greene County reportedly has at least four illegal gambling sites and Lowndes County has two. Is there any question what these officials will do going forward? No.
In making his Nov. 5 announcement, Bentley said he was concerned laws against illegal gambling were not being enforced equally across Alabama. What he did not say was that he is the reason for the unequal enforcement. Not the attorney general.
In January, Bentley announced that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) would no longer lead investigations into illegal gambling activities. Instead ALEA would assist “upon request of local officials.”
Again with the stroke of his pen, Bentley removed the state’s law enforcement agency from assisting in state-directed investigations about illegal gambling and created the “Catch-22” situation he condemned months later.
At the time we wrote, “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.”
Struggle over enforcement
In 2013 when Strange successfully raided VictoryLand and seized almost 1,600 machines, Strange said the action was the result of an exhaustive investigation conducted by his office and state police. Then after removing the ability of the attorney general to initiate similar investigations by removing state police (now part of ALEA), the governor complains of uneven enforcement because similar investigations have not occurred at gambling sites still operating. Yet he is the one who stipulated that state police can be involved only at the initiation of local officials.
The pattern is well established. The attorney general begins to investigate illegal gambling activities. Local officials obstruct the process. Suits are filed. Many times local circuit judges rule against state efforts. Appeals are filed and eventually the state Supreme Court sides with state efforts.
The most recent example is the Nov. 9 state Supreme Court ruling that stayed Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Shashy’s order that seized electronic gambling machines from VictoryLand be returned.
But an attorney for VictoryLand said it did not matter if the machines were returned or not. VictoryLand would just get more machines and reopen anyway. No one in Macon County is going to stop them and Bentley has pulled the plug on state-led action.
When Bentley was elected his first executive order was to appoint the attorney general to lead a statewide effort to enforce Alabama’s laws against illegal gambling. Strange has worked carefully to clarify the law through a series of court cases that resulted in crystal-clear rulings outlawing electronic gambling machines.
Strange applied those rulings in fair and equitable ways. We urged him to do more, to be more aggressive in enforcing laws against illegal gambling but the attorney general opted for a slower process building his cases brick by brick.
Unfortunately the more he achieved, the greater the opposition became. Even leaders in his own party backed away from agreements to strengthen laws against illegal gambling machines in the state.
Republicans who promised no new gambling laws when they came to power later introduced the most expansive gambling legislation ever presented to the Alabama Legislature. Now Bentley effectively undoes years of progress against illegal gambling by saying county officials will be “guided by their respective interpretations” of illegal gambling laws.
In many places the laws will continue to be strictly enforced but in Macon County, Lowndes County, Greene County and perhaps other places, local officials will likely continue to thwart state law and no one will be able to stop them.
The only bullet left for the attorney general is impeachment, a process recommended by the governor for anyone not doing his or her job. But that process takes so long and is so complicated as to be a nonexistent option.
Bentley masterfully snatched defeat from victory where illegal gambling in Alabama is concerned. Now our state will likely see more and more gambling dens popping up similar to what the state experienced a few years ago. And all of that will set the stage for a major debate in the state Legislature about legalizing a state-sponsored lottery and establishing state-
sanctioned casinos across Alabama.
Alabama needs one definition of illegal gambling in the state. That is what we had until the governor undid years of hard work to make the state a better place for its citizens. His actions will prove nothing short of a tragedy.
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