Electronic Bingo Showdown
There’s a new development in the showdown between Alabama Governor Bob Riley and the state’s casino owners over electronic bingo machines. A judge will conduct a hearing next week on issues surrounding the closed Country Crossing casino in Dothan. Part of the debate is whether electronic bingo machines are allowed under state law. Riley says they’re illegal slot machines. Casino owners insist they are perfectly legal. The face-off has prompted early morning raids of some high profile casinos. And as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager report, many other operations have shutdown to avoid such a clash.
Bamaco Bingo in Fairfield is closed right now. But last week, on the eve of being closed, the place was going strong with 1,800 electronic bingo machines. Half of the dozen or so players I talk to don’t want to be interviewed. One’s a church deacon. Another says his wife doesn’t know he’s there. But Ronnie Williams has no inhibition. He sits in front of a game called Lucky Duck tapping the button every few seconds to keep play going.
“Do you do pretty good?”
“No. [laugh]”
“So why do you keep coming back?”
“Something to do. Pass the time. Having fun.”
On the screen, symbols scroll vertically. It looks like a slot machine, although Williams points to a small bingo card in the corner of the screen. Casino operators insist it is bingo and it is legal. Mark White is an attorney for VictoryLand, the state’s largest casino. He says VictoryLand was operating legally and the governor’s raids are a draconian tactic.
“They won’t go to court and have a trial and let a judge or jury make that decision. They want to do millions of dollars of damage without court process.”
But the governor’s policy director Bryan Taylor says the Alabama Supreme Court has already ruled twice that these machines are not legal. The governor is just enforcing the law. Casino owners have also cried foul because these raids have been conducted without search warrants. The state’s Republican Attorney General Troy King in fact sent a letter to fellow Republican Governor Bob Riley questioning the lack of search warrants. King declined to comment for this story. Bryan Taylor with the governor’s office says there’s no problem with the methods.
“If you were to see somebody using an illegal drug in the corner of a bar, an officer doesn’t have to leave, go get a judge, go get a warrant and serve that warrant on the individual. The officer can seize the illegal drugs right then and there. And that was the circumstance in this case.”
Joe Lester teaches law at Faulkner University in Montgomery. He says there’s nothing inherently wrong with conducting the raids without a search warrant, as long as there’s probable cause. But given the attention they generate with more than 100 state troopers pulling into a casino in the wee hours of the morning, he says it’s probably better to have one.
There are a lot of murky legal questions in this fight. In Alabama bingo operations are authorized under state constitutional amendments affecting individual counties. So the rules vary depending on location. Joe Lester says there’s yet to be a case where the Alabama Supreme Court could apply a ruling statewide.
“I would say right now they both have legitimate claims to make. I don’t think any side is in any better position than the other.”
Back at Bamaco Bingo, Kathleen Owen splits no hairs over the definition of bingo versus electronic bingo.
“Hell no, I ain’t playing the same game. Does that look like card bingo to you with a dauber?”
But Owen doesn’t care. She thinks the government should stay out of it. But with escalating rhetoric on both sides, don’t bet on that happening anytime soon.
Albanian prime minister says TikTok ban was not a rushed reaction
Prime Minister Edi Rama said over the weekend that the government will shut down TikTok for one year, accusing the popular video service of inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.
Blake Lively accuses ‘It Ends With Us’ studio of harassment and smear campaign
In a legal complaint, the actor says co-star Justin Baldoni and his team launched a smear campaign as a way to silence Lively's narrative about his and a producer's alleged repeated sexual harassment.
Millions face wintry weather for what could be a record-setting holiday travel season
More than 119 million people are expected to travel for Christmas and Hanukkah, which both fall on the same day this year, through the New Year, according to AAA.
Review by Senate Democrats finds more unreported luxury trips by Clarence Thomas
A report by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee found additional travel taken in 2021 by Thomas but not reported on his annual financial disclosure, including trips on private jets and a yacht trip.
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 20, including five children
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 20 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said.
I discovered one way to fight loneliness: The Germans call it a Stammtisch
Modern life can be lonely. Some are looking to an old German tradition – of drinking and conversation – to deepen connection through regular meetups.
