Thousands Keep Their Gambling Jobs In Alabama After Judge Ruling

Withe every passing day, the Task Force on Illegal Gambling, created by Governor Robert Riley, and gambling advocates in Alabama, seem to exchange legal victory's. On Thursday it was VictoryLand and its thousands of employees that came out on top.

The Task Force on Illegal Gambling requested that a restraining order that stopped them from raiding VictoryLand in Macon County be lifted. They had the momentum of a Supreme Court ruling last week that stated the restraining order should not have been issued.

Circuit Court Judge Tom Young, however, denied the request on Thursday. Judge Young gave the plaintiffs in the case two weeks to appeal to the state Supreme Court over the ruling. It is likely that all the judge did was buy two weeks for the plaintiffs, considering the Supreme Court ruling that lifted the restraining order was unanimous.

The gambling issue has been at the forefront of the court system in Alabama. The trend has been for the lower courts to rule in favor of the gambling establishments, and the Supreme Court to take the side of the governor and the Task Force. The Supreme Court has been careful not to give a broad ruling concerning the legality of the electronic bingo machines in question.

Already this year, the Task Force has come under fire from community leaders and Attorney General Troy King. The AG asserted that the Task Force was being run irresponsibly, but King was denied the right to seize control of the Task Force by the Supreme Court.

Lawmakers have become frustrated by what they believe to be a personal vendetta being carried out by Governor Riley. Legislators attempted to create a bill that would have allowed voters to decide the issue, but that legislation was defeated.

With the issue growing, Gubernatorial candidates have weighed in on their stance on the issue. The stance's have been drawn mostly along party lines, with Republicans against gambling regulations, while Democrats such as Ron Sparks for such regulation.

August 6, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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