Small Town News

Riley rolling after court decision

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Will an Alabama Supreme Court ruling blocking Attorney General Troy King from taking over Gov. Bob Riley's gambling task force impact VictoryLand remaining open in Macon County?

The court's unanimous ruling on Friday, May 21 apparently gives Riley new momentum in his efforts to shut down electronic bingo casinos in Alabama.

VictoryLand, which has been operating electronic bingo since 2003 after Macon County voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing charity bingo at

the greyhound track, is the state's largest gaming facility With more than 6,000 electronic bingo machines.

The court's ruling is based on a case out of White Hall in Lowndes County. The task force raided the White Hall casino in 2009 and seized about 100 machines and $500,000 in cash.

King criticized the task force's predawn raid. He accused the governor of creating a "constitutional crisis" by sending armed officers into casinos without the approval of the attorney general or local district attorneys. The task force was originally established by Riley to assist local law enforcement officials when requested.

Earlier this year, Riley's task force, under the command of Mobile District Attorney John Tyson, attempted to raid Country Crossing near Dothan and VictoryLand near Shorter the same day. Nearly 200 Alabama State Troopers were dispatched to VictoryLand and a like number to Country Crossing.

The raid of VictoryLand was prevented when attorneys for facility owner Milton McGregor obtained a restraining order to halt Tyson and the task force.

That order was issued by Circuit Judge Tom Young of the Fifth Judicial Circuit that includes Macon County.

The Alabama Supreme Court later lifted that restraining order and VictoryLand shut down of its own accord for nearly a month, putting nearly 2,000. employees out of work and severely hurting revenue in the area from the largest tax payer in Macon County.

VictoryLand surrendered its liquor license and has been reopened since March 5 after Young issued a temporary injunction to prevent a raid at VictoryLand by the task force.

Riley believes the supreme court's Friday ruling nullifies the temporary injunction and could leave VictoryLand open for a raid by the task force.

"This ruling should put the nail in the coffin for so-called electronic bingo in this state," said Riley, who has been accused of going after Alabama's bingo operators while giving a pass to Indian gaming interests.

Riley denies he received campaign funds from Indian gaming interests in Mississippi with the intent of hampering their competition from Alabama casinos. Indian gaming in Alabama, with operations in at least three locations, pays no local or state taxes because they operate on federal Indian gaming laws.

On the other hand, VictoryLand has paid more than $200 million in taxes, plus hundreds of thousands more in charity bingo through the years.

In its Friday ruling, the Supreme Court rejected the attorney general's argument that he has absolute power over legal matters involving the interests of the state. Instead, it said the governor has "supreme executive power" over the executive branch of government, including the attorney general.

"If the governor's 'supreme executive power' means anything, it means that when the governor makes a determination that the laws are not being faithfully executed, he can act using the legal means that are at his disposal," the court said.

"The governor's task force is free to enforce the laws on illegal gambhng from one end of the state to the other," task force commander John Tyson said.

The court's ruling wasn't a determination on the legality of the Vegas-style machines at the White Hall casino, but it affirms the governor's ability to enforce gaming laws. The Supreme Court said "the governor's position that the term bingo, is a reference to the game traditionally known as bingo is consistent with at least three appellate decisions."

King, who was appointed attorney general by Riley in 2004, announced in March that he was taking over the White Hall case and removing Tyson, who's also Mobile County District Attorney.

Riley and his task force appealed to the Supreme Court. All Supreme Court justices agreed with the outcome Friday, but not all had the same reasoning.

Bobby Segall, an attorney for the charity that operates the White Hall casino, said the Supreme Court had to overrule one of its previous rulings on the attorney general's powers in order to issue Friday's decision.

"The Supreme Court just decided to change the law," he said.

Riley was strong in his criticism of King, stating, "The attorney general's effort to hijack the task force was an illegal power grab designed to protect casino bosses."

On Monday, King issued a statement that he would abide by the court's ruling and turn over to the governor all bingo matters out of the attorney general's office.

Editor's note: Portions of this story came from Associated Press.



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© 2011 The Tuskegee News Tuskegee, Alabama. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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