Members of Benton Baptist Church in Selma Baptist Association believe they witnessed God specifically answer their prayers the morning of March 19, said church member Mitzi Holladay. That’s when the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling raided the gambling facility in White Hall, just a few miles from Holladay’s farm and about 20 miles west of Montgomery on U.S. Highway 80.
“Yes, ma’am, it was an answer to prayer,” said Holladay, a member of the Alabama Baptist State Convention’s Christian Life Commission (CLC). “One thing I do as a [CLC] member is keep our church informed.
“I told them about the task force, and we had been praying that God would intervene some way with the gaming center,” she said. “We’re hopeful this will be used to help keep all gambling out of Alabama.”
Holladay’s husband, Ronnie, talked with a task force official manning the roadblock near the center and some local citizens connected to the facility.
“[The task force] came in about 6 or 6:30 (a.m.) and closed it down and started pulling machines,” Ronnie Holladay said, noting it spent most of the day loading up what may be illegal machines.
News reports indicated about 200 “slot machines” were confiscated as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.
While the facility houses more than 900 machines, those seized are a representative sample of the various kinds of machines in there, according to reports from task force leader David Barber.
The center is operated by Cornerstone Community Outreach charity, according to The Associated Press. Collins Pettaway, an attorney for the group, said the machines are legal and was attempting to block the seizure at press time.
Joe Godfrey, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program, said, “The governor’s task force is to be commended. They are demonstrating a willingness to take action, shut down these ‘bingocinos’ and stop the operation of these illegal bingo/slot machines in this state. I hope that they will continue to take this strong stand and to rid our state of this evil.”
Ronnie Holladay agreed.
“It was a great thing to see that happening,” he said of the raid. “It should have happened the day after they put them in because, in my opinion, they are illegal anyway. I hope it is not just for show, that it is the real deal and they can make a case of it and get them shut down forever.”
While the White Hall bust is the largest so far for the task force, it is not the first. Another raid took place March 3 at the American Legion Post 153 in Mobile.
Mobile-area officials working with the task force seized more than 100 gambling machines, according to television station WKRG in Mobile.
Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. is following up on the machines and where the proceeds have gone.
Mitzi Holladay noted the raids by the task force are timely because of the current confusion and debate going on in the state Legislature about electronic bingo gambling.
“The timing is real significant because of the TV commercials that are on right now about the Wiregrass area trying to open up another gaming center (in Dothan),” she said.
Eric Johnston, president of and general counsel for the Southeast Law Institute in Birmingham, which deals with moral issues affecting public policy in the state, said the raids may spur gambling proponents to move faster and put more pressure on legislators.
“The primary reason they (gambling interests) are doing these bills (House Bill 676 and Senate Bill 471) is because they see the handwriting on the wall for the machines,” he said, pointing to the Alabama Supreme Court’s 2006 sweepstakes opinion.
“They are going to lose what they are doing because this is going to result in the (state) Supreme Court saying this is unlawful,” Johnston said. “It will take away a big profit. That’s why they are putting so much into the Sweet Home Alabama (campaign) and the bills because they have a lot to lose.
“This shot from the task force shows it is for real,” he said. “The sheriff’s in town and he’s going to clean up.”
For more information on electronic bingo gambling, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org. To contact your legislator, call 334-242-7800 (Senate) or 334-242-7600 (House).
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