MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Supreme Court of Alabama has granted the state’s request to seize 825 electronic bingo machines from the Greenetrack gambling facility, reversing the lower court’s decision.
The lower court ruled that the machines, initially seized in 2010, must be returned because they complied with a local constitutional amendment which carved out an electronic bingo gambling exception for Greene County. The Supreme Court disagreed, and held that the devices constituted “illegal slot machines” under state law.
Alabama’s fight against gambling has a long and storied history, which has recently made its way into the electronic sphere. Bob Riley’s (R) administration famously took up the crusade against electronic bingo late in his tenure, a battle that is now championed by Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange (R). Just this year, Strange worked to shut down sports websites such as DraftKings and FanDuel within the state’s borders.
Governors Don Seigelman (D) and Robert Bentley (R) both proposed lottery systems to solve the state incessant budgetary issues, but neither succeeded. Bentley’s initiative did not even make it to the ballot, while Siegelman’s failed to secure a majority of support from Alabamians.
