Muzings From The Edge: Bingo Part II
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As we rejoin the Riley vs King tussle over the Bingo fiasco in the Heart of Dixie things are heating up a bit. You might remember that Attorney General Troy King has contended that the question of the legality of electronic bingo needs to be resolved in the courts. This is primarily because there are some constitution vs statutory issues to be resolved. King has also contended that he, as the top law enforcement officer and chief litigator for the state has the sole authority to deal with the issue. Of course, as one might imagine Governor Bob Riley chose to see it differently. The legal issues here are really a major “cluster fuck” called the Alabama State Constitution. The State Constitution makes all forms of gambling illegal, however, it does allow for counties to adopt amendments if the legislature approves a voter referendum by the voters of that county. And, the state law prohibits gambling excepts for certain types of raffles or bingo (old style) to raise money for charitable purposes. Still with me so far folks? I promised you a ride with some whiplash twists and turns.
Now enters “Riley’s Raiders” which consists of a special prosecutor appointed by Riley who leads midnight raids on casinos who operate the alleged illegal devil devices. In each case a large number of Alabama State Troopers descend on the unsuspecting casino operation like they are raiding a major drug operation often with guns drawn. Employees are told to “assume the position” and in some cases they are placed in handcuffs and arrested. Patrons are herded out of the casinos by the armed troopers into the parking lots as if they had committed major crimes and told to leave the premises. Many of them have had money confiscated without search warrants or established probable cause. They later started sending in plainclothes officers as undercover informants because local judges refused to give them search warrants. The pot really began boiling when the Greene County, Alabama sheriff, who also chairs the Greentrack Bingo Facility, sent a warning to the governor stating that he and his deputies would be standing in the doors of their facility and would deny the troopers access to Greentrack. Greene County is about the poorest county in the state and Greentrack is the only industry in that county. It employs approximately 1200 people and as Greentrack goes so goes the county. To date there has been no show down at the Greentrack Corral, but who know with the lunatics running this show.
Riley did get one little boost when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that the bingo games did violate the law, however they did not addresses the constitutional issues. Then his special prosecutor David Barbour happened to win more than a thousand dollars gambling at one the Mississippi casino and was forced to set down for ethical reasons. Riley then appointed the District Attorney from Mobile County, John Tyson, as special prosecutor to lead the task force. Tyson, who received campaign money from some of the Mississippi casinos, plus having issues with the running of his own Mobile office, definitely seems to be looking out for his own career rather than the people who voted him into office. He is a typical southern Republican politician who feels that he really does have to give anyone a good reason why he should not be giving the voters in Mobile County his full attention. He immediately started leading raids himself the most notable of which resulted in a standoff at the “Country Crossroads” entertainment complex near Dothan, Alabama. That one involved 135 cars of state troopers, two command post vans, and probably about two hundred troopers who virtually camped out at the casino after being denied access because of a lack of a warrant. Gee, I wonder who was protecting our highways that night.
Finally a judge has ruled that it was the sole responsibility of the Attorney General to determine how to handle the bingo casinos, At the same time the Alabama legislature is struggling to get a referendum before the Alabama Voters to let the people decide whether or not they want to legalize it or not. Of course, and to no one’s surprise the Republicans are trying to block the referendum vote because those few know what is best for the people. Apparently, they believe the good folks of Alabama aren’t smart enough to know what is good for them. If the people let them get away with this, maybe they are right.
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The part I like best is the special prosecutor stepping down due to gambling winnings. So if he didn’t gamble well and had losses-would it have then been ok?
Probably Oso. He would not have had to report it to the IRS then. That’s why he stepped down.
You know, Lazer, I don’t know how you keep it all straight in your head. What a bunch of crazies. Honestly, it’s still bingo. Wonder if they’ll raid Target next for selling the handheld version?
I am not sure Ms Bee but I stay away from the game aisle when I go to Wal Mart these days.
This is yet another example of Jumping for Jesus Bill. This is driven by the Conservative religious who think that gambling is the work of the devil. These hypocrites are wreaking havoc all across the nation.
Actually Mike I am beginning to think that religion is an excuse for corruption. There is simply too much smoke about Riley’s connection to the Indian casino’s money for there not to be at least be a campfire and a peace pipe being smoked somewhere. Alabama’s schools are having to shorten their school year because of a lack of funds while Riley is throwing away money on theses ridiculous raids and Alabamians are spending their money in the surrounding states gambling enterprises.