“Enough is enough,” said Gov. Bob Riley. It is time to settle the electronic bingo gambling confusion in the state once and for all.
And to do that Riley has thrown muscle into the fight in the form of Executive Order #44 establishing the Task Force on Illegal Gambling.
“When I was sworn into office, I said I would uphold the laws of Alabama and that is what [I am] trying to do,” he said, noting the Alabama Constitution outlaws slot machines and the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that any machine resembling a slot machine in any way is illegal.
“There is no question whether a slot machine is legal,” Riley said. “The question is ‘what constitutes a slot machine?’”
And as lights and bells from thousands of gambling machines across the state continually mesmerize Alabamians and attract large-scale gambling moguls, it is hard to differentiate them from slot machines.
Technically charity bingo is only allowed in Alabama in limited forms in areas that have passed a constitutional amendment making an exception to the “no lottery” section of the state constitution. Only 18 jurisdictions have those amendments.
But never was the intention for charity bingo to become a multimillion- dollar business for gambling interests, Riley said. “I don’t believe that when all of these institutions were originally conceived that anyone could imagine that bingo for charity would basically mean the proprietors would become multimillionaires.”
And while the courts have continually ruled the gambling machines illegal, confusion exists and many local law enforcement officers are not clear on what is legal and what is not.
“If we have a law that is being enforced in one place and not in others, that is not acceptable to anyone in the state. You can’t pick and choose,” Riley said. “What we need is a clear, definitive ruling.”
And that’s what his task force — which has been working since Dec. 29 — intends to make happen.
David Barber, retired district attorney for Jefferson County and commander of the task force, said a statewide electronic bingo gambling case must make it before the state Supreme Court in order to garner an official ruling that would apply to everyone.
But that is exactly what the gambling interests do not want to happen because the confusion would no longer exist and the law could be enforced, Barber explained.
“Our (the task force’s) purpose is to make a case or get involved in an existing case to get two questions before the state Supreme Court,” he said.
The questions are:
- Is it bingo?
- Is what they are playing on a slot machine?
“I prefer to do this in a civil action … But the criminal action option is there,” Barber said, noting the task force is looking for “the right fact situation” and “will go with it.”
Assisting Barber with the undercover investigations across the state are Emory Folmar, administrator of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, and some of his agents and Colonel Christopher Murphy, director of the department of public safety and some of his Alabama Bureau of Investigation agents.
“We have very experienced investigators involved in this,” Barber said. “The task force will be successful in getting or at least helping get the appropriate case to the Supreme Court,” he said. “What happens from there is up to the Supreme Court.”
Riley agreed and added that if the court rules the machines are legal, “then we will go to the alternate ‘plan B,’ which is to regulate and tax [this form of gambling].”
The task force is a resource to local district attorneys and sheriffs, but anyone can report illegal gambling operations by calling 1-866-227-8586.
To read more from the governor and to find stories dealing with the electronic bingo gambling issue in the state, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org.
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