Electronic bingo raises questions
By Staff
– The Tuscaloosa News
The Alabama Supreme Court will have the final say on who should be in charge of enforcing laws against illegal gambling in Alabama: Gov. Bob Riley or Attorney General Troy King.
Whoever winds up leading it should take that mission seriously.
King has said he is ready to take charge of the task force formed by Riley because the legality of electronic bingo is more confused than it was a year ago.
Riley has said that as the state’s chief executive, he is sworn to uphold the constitution and King has no authority to take over the task force and fire its chief, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson.
Ideally, the state’s attorney general would be in charge of law enforcement issues like illegal gambling. The problem is that King has shown little desire to enforce state law.
His efforts seem to center on trying to pass the responsibility off to those who don’t want to do anything about it.
The activities going on at the bingo parlors around the state have little to do with what people approved in local constitutional amendments that enabled ‘charity bingo.’
That conjures up images of fellowship halls in churches and fraternal lodges, not large casinos and electronic machines that look suspiciously like slot machines.
There are a number of issues that don’t seem to be resolved.
Some amendments don’t appear to authorize electronic systems for playing bingo.
While Greene County’s amendment clearly authorizes electronic machines, the relationship between Greenetrack and the charities it funds does not appear to follow the letter or spirit of the amendment authorizing bingo there.
Allegations surrounding former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford’s exceptionally good luck create some questions about the integrity of bingo operations.
There seems to be poor and perhaps unfair control over who will receive a license to operate bingo.
All of these problems point to fundamental issues that should be addressed at the state level.
Bills in the Alabama Legislature that basically say, ‘It’s here, so let’s make it legal and tax it,’ are not the proper approach.
Indeed, if gambling is to have a place in Alabama, it should be taxed and regulated. But the first issue that must be addressed is whether this state wants big-time gambling.
The people of this state should have the right to decide that in a referendum. Casino operators say they’re not afraid of a referendum.
We don’t think anyone should be afraid of the people expressing their will.
Once that has been decided the other issues can be settled.
A ‘yes’ vote would lead to further legislation. A ‘no’ vote would make strong enforcement of gambling laws more important.
But until those issues are resolved, the state’s current laws should be strongly enforced.
