For months, opponents and supporters of electronic bingo gambling awaited an Alabama Supreme Court ruling on the machines causing heated debates between some of the state’s highest officials. But after justices issued rules regarding “the game commonly or traditionally known as bingo,” gambling opponents claimed a “clear victory” while others say the ruling may not apply statewide. Meanwhile gaming device manufacturers began altering their machines to meet the Supreme Court’s new regulations and new electronic bingo gambling facilities have already opened or reopened around the state.
After the Nov. 13 ruling against White Hall’s 900-machine electronic bingo gambling facility, Gov. Bob Riley told The Alabama Baptist, “I think the Supreme Court ruling was just spot on to what we had been saying that this is not bingo and never has been and never will be. I think they laid out the guidelines that now indicate we really do need to close these down once and for all. … There is not a machine that we know of today that would be considered bingo under the Supreme Court definitions.”
Riley also wrote a letter to Attorney General Troy King asking him to work with the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling to “put an end to this illegal activity.”
But citing “these days of budget cuts” and a desire to be “nonduplicative,” King said he would make that decision only after reviewing the “investigative materials” Riley will use to prompt his further actions.
“After reviewing these materials, I will be able to provide you and Mr. (David) Barber (who leads the task force) with an answer regarding whether my office will join your efforts or whether we will instead continue to work with the local officials to ensure that the law is being faithfully enforced.”
Instead King asked district attorneys in counties with constitutional amendments allowing bingo to study the Supreme Court ruling and determine if the machines used in their areas are legal.
“As the chief law officers of your local jurisdictions, you hold the primary responsibility for ensuring compliance within your district for this and other laws,” King told the district attorneys. “While the Court did not expressly address the issue of electronic bingo, it has certainly altered the legal landscape.”
In his letter, King also said he expected more lawsuits on this issue.
“I anticipate that the creation of this new test may lead to substantial new litigation across the state as vendors and manufacturers attempt to reconfigure technology used in existing machines and to devise completely new technology in an effort to comply with this decision,” King wrote.
Like King, Macon County District Attorney Paul Jones is not convinced the Supreme Court ruling applies to Macon County’s bingo amendment or the electronic bingo gambling operation at Victoryland in Shorter.
“First the Alabama Supreme Court listed 15 separate constitutional amendments in the state of Alabama,” he said. “Not one time do they mention Amendment 744 (Macon). Essentially they say … at the time those constitutional amendments were passed there were no electronic bingo machines in Alabama. But by the time the Macon County constitutional amendment was adopted, electronic bingo was in play virtually across the state of Alabama. … Third, in reaching the final page of the decision, they say it (the ruling) applies to the Lowndes County amendment. They could just have easily said it applies to all constitutional amendments.”
Jones said he does not plan to take any legal action until the issue is resolved, but he does not expect that to happen any time soon.
“If we don’t get a Supreme Court ruling or some sort of legislation fairly quickly that resolves this issue, I will ask my judges to issue a declaratory opinion and we’ll go from there,” he said.
Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes told the Dothan Eagle he would take a “wait-and-see approach” before taking any legal action against Country Crossing, the entertainment center that opened Dec. 1 with nearly 1,700 electronic bingo gambling machines.
“But it’s still murky,” Hughes reportedly said of the Supreme Court’s rules. “We’re going to do the best we can to enforce the law just like we always do.”
Joe Basgier, deputy district attorney of Jefferson County, agreed with Riley.
“The conversation is over,” he said. “The question of are the slot machines legal has been answered. The answer is no. It doesn’t matter what you want to call them even if they purport to play bingo. Bingo-based slot machines are illegal.”
As talk is already emerging about the creation of new electronic bingo gambling machines that align with the Supreme Court’s ruling, Riley told The Alabama Baptist, “There will always be someone who says this game is different. In the last few months you have had a U.S. federal judge say this is not bingo. You’ve had two circuit judges (Judge Vance and Judge Vowell) say this is not bingo. Now the Supreme Court is saying this is not bingo. After all of that, for someone to say we still think it is bingo and we should be excluded, I think that is the height of being disingenuous.”
Riley has also sent letters to the gambling commissions in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arizona to “make sure slot machine manufacturers cease all illegal activity in Alabama.”
“What we’ve told the commissions is they need to make sure the manufacturers that operate under their jurisdiction are complying with the law in Alabama,” Riley said in a Nov. 16 news release. “For our part, we intend to prosecute violations of our law to the fullest extent.”
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