The Alabama Supreme Court may not have moved quickly when the head of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling came knocking on its door Jan. 29 (see story, page 9), but it did take a punch at gambling that day.
The high court justices overturned a March 2009 ruling by St. Clair County Circuit Judge Charles E. Robinson that legalized slot machines in Ashville. It also refused to reconsider its ruling in the White Hall case.
Slot machines became an issue in Ashville in late 2008 when the American Legion Post 170 partnered with Shooting Star Entertainment Group LLC. The American Legion got as far as bringing in about 200 machines and operated for about two weeks before Sheriff Terry Surles shut the operation down. The machines were moved out pending action by the Supreme Court.
Gov. Bob Riley applauded the latest ruling and said it clarifies the slot machine issue statewide.
The high court’s opinion “again makes clear that the so-called electronic bingo machines being used by casino bosses across the state are illegal,” Riley’s office said in a news release Jan. 29.
“In a follow-up to its November opinion that identified six elements that are required for legal bingo, the court today made clear that ‘human interaction in playing the game’ must be present for a game to qualify as bingo,” the release stated. “In other words, a machine cannot play the game of bingo for a person.”
In the opinion, the justices said bingo requires a player “(1) to pay attention to the numbers or designations announced, (2) to physically act to determine and then to mark whether they have a matching number or symbol, [and] (3) to recognize that they have a winning card and be the first to announce this fact.”
If the game is not one where the player could lose by making mistakes in marking his card, then it is not bingo according to the court, Riley’s office explained.
Although the case arose out of St. Clair County, the decision on the meaning of “bingo” applies statewide, the news release stated. Even though there are different constitutional amendments pertaining to bingo for various counties, the Supreme Court has already ruled that “bingo” means the same thing in all the amendments.
“None of the slot machines being used at casinos in Alabama comes anywhere close to meeting this definition of bingo,” Riley said.
“A person could play these machines blind-folded and still win. Although the previous court decisions were crystal clear that the machines are illegal, this decision absolutely slams the door shut on any argument that these slot machines qualify as bingo.
“The court’s decision is hardly a surprise. Anyone with any common sense knows that these slot machines are not bingo,” Riley added. “Law enforcement officials across the state cannot turn their heads any longer to the illegal activity that is occurring.
“The gambling bosses have run out of excuses, and these slot-machine casinos must be shut down.”
In the original White Hall case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling and against White Hall Entertainment Center in Lowndes County in April 2009.
The task force seized more than 100 machines and nearly $600,000 in a March 2009 raid.
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