Some of the major court cases dealing with ‘bingo’ in the past 2 years

Circuit court cases:

Macon County

• Circuit Judge Tom Young has issued several restraining orders against the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling to protect VictoryLand in Shorter from raids. After task force Commander John Tyson repeatedly went to the Alabama Supreme Court to have the restraining orders overruled, Young issued more orders. On Sept. 3, the Supreme Court refused to rehear the case in which it reversed the most recent restraining order.

Greene County

• Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway issued several restraining orders against the task force to prevent it from raiding Greenetrack in Eutaw in late June. The state Supreme Court overruled each restraining order and eventually removed Hardaway from the case.

Etowah County

• When Etowah Baptist Association attempted to join a case between District Attorney Jimmie Harp and prospective developer CBS Supply, Circuit Judge Allen Millican refused to let it. The association appealed to the state Supreme Court, but the court threw the case out March 15 since circuit courts have no jurisdiction in criminal cases.

Houston County

• In January, Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin, a judge for Dale and Geneva counties, issued a late-night restraining order against the task force to protect Houston County’s Country Crossing from a raid. The Alabama Supreme Court overruled his order.
• Country Crossing voluntarily shut down Jan. 29 to avoid a task force raid. Soon Houston Economic Development Association, the charity responsible for the slot machine-style gambling portion of the development, requested the County Commission repay a portion of the $1.6 million it paid to operate in 2010. A court case ensued and the judge ruled that the county must repay a portion of the money.

Jefferson County

• Seventeen groups known as charities sued the county, District Attorney Brandon Falls, Sheriff Mike Hale and Attorney General Troy King after Falls ordered the charities’ “electronic bingo” facilities to close or face law enforcement actions. Circuit Judge Caryl Privett refused to hear arguments on that subject after the Alabama Supreme Court issued its six-point test for legal bingo Nov. 13. According to The Birmingham News, attorney Erskine Mathis, one of the lawyers representing the charities, said none of his clients met the criteria established in the Supreme Court’s decision.
• On Nov. 17, Privett ruled that the “electronic bingo” permit issued to Mobile-based charity House of Joshua Christian Center by the city of Birmingham was invalid after the city revoked its “electronic bingo” ordinance. The group, which was represented by Birmingham attorney Kim Davidson, sued the city, Hale and Falls. Joe Basgier, former assistant district attorney who represented Falls in the case, said, “These people are desperate to protect an opportunity to make money.” After leaving Falls’ office, Basgier began representing a group that planned to open a slot machine-style facility in the Bessemer Cut-Off District.

Walker County

• On Oct. 26, Circuit Judge Robert Vance ruled the county’s so-called electronic bingo halls illegal and ordered them to close their doors.

St. Clair County

• Circuit Judge Charles E. Robinson ruled March 30, 2009, that “electronic bingo” machines planned for a gambling facility in Ashville were legal. The Alabama Supreme Court overturned the ruling Jan. 29, 2010.

Bessemer Cut-Off District

• On March 10, 2008, Circuit Judge Eugene Verin ruled electronic machines in Bessemer were illegal because they were “illegal slot machines as defined by the laws of this state.”
• In an April 12, 2010, ruling, Verin said his court had subject matter jurisdiction to enjoin Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale, Gov. Riley and the task force from “conducting any ‘raids’ within the Bessemer Division of Jefferson County” until the state Supreme Court decided who should be in charge of the task force. Verin’s ruling was handed down after several Supreme Court rulings stated that circuit courts have no jurisdiction in law enforcement efforts. The Supreme Court did rule May 21 that Riley was in control of the task force, not King.
• Represented by Birmingham attorney Kim Davidson, Bessemer City Council members filed a lawsuit against Mayor Ed May and Acting City Clerk Travis Brooks in February 2010 to dispute the timeliness of one of May’s vetoes. Four of the seven council members passed several “electronic bingo” ordinances and May vetoed them all. The plaintiffs later said they dropped the case.
• Bessemer resident Thomas Pack filed a lawsuit March 11, 2010, against the City Council bingo committee (council President Earl Cochran, Louise Alexander, Dorothy Davidson and Jesse Matthews) for violating Alabama’s Open Meetings Act by making gambling plans for the city in private meetings, among other complaints. Judge N. Daniel Rogers is presiding over the active case, but no hearings have been set to resolve it.

Lowndes County

• David Barber, former task force commander, requested that former Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy, who was appointed to the case involving White Hall’s “electronic bingo” facility in Lowndes County, should recuse himself because of a conflict of interest. Jeff Emerson, Riley’s communications director, said in a press release, “The judge has an obvious conflict of interest. He has a business relationship with a casino and should never have issued any kind of ruling in this gambling case. We have asked the Supreme Court to recognize that and we’re confident they will.” Kennedy was removed by the chief justice and the case was reassigned.

Federal court cases:

Macon and Greene counties

• Thirty-one residents from Macon and Greene counties filed a federal class action lawsuit July 29 against Riley and Tyson, both individually and in their official capacities, citing voting rights violations. The case is ongoing.

Macon County

• Hope for Families and Community Services and other nonprofit organizations planning to open a gambling facility called Lucky Palace in the county filed a lawsuit accusing Sheriff David Warren and VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor of trying to keep Lucky Palace from opening. U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins ruled against the charity June 30.