Casinos Claim Alabama’s E-bingo Ban Is Racially-Motivated

Alabama casinos believe that a recent court ruling against electronic bingo casinos might be racially-unjust. One of the casinos claims that the government is endangering the livelihood of many Blacks in the state.

Alabama Cracked Down on Electronic Bingo Casinos

The situation stems from the Alabama Supreme Court’s response to two appeals. The court’s decision may result in the closure of the electronic bingo casinos in Lowndes and Macon counties.

Previously, the Supreme Court considered electronic bingo casinos such as the Southern Star Entertainment Center, Victoryland and White Hall Entertainment to be legal businesses. However, following the recent appeals, the court changed its mind, labeling the latter businesses and their offerings as illegal. The authorities went as far as saying that electronic bingo machines are a nuisance to the public.

Following this decision, the Supreme Court told lower circuit courts to issue cease and desist orders within 30 days. This means that the lower circuit courts had to issue orders by October 30, which will provide casinos with another 30 days to cease their operations. As of the time of this writing, the aforementioned casinos are still open to the public.

The three casinos are now readying to strike back. Both the casinos’ attorneys and the counties’ legal teams oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling and are asking it to rethink its stance. Some went as far as implying that the court’s decision to ban electronic bingo machines may be racially-motivated.

Casinos Say the Decision Will Worsen Inequality in the State

It should be mentioned that the Lowndes and Macon counties are both poor regions with predominantly Black populations. Decades ago, following local referendums, the two counties launched Las Vegas-styled electronic bingo machines. Both Lowndes and Macon saw the terminals as an opportunity to create more jobs and improve tax revenue. Furthermore, the three electronic bingo casinos in the counties fund charity and non-profit organizations.

As a result, Faya Ora Rose Touré, a counsel for White Hall Entertainment, slammed the Supreme Court for nurturing racial inequality. Touré begrudgingly said that the State and Court have based the recent ruling on beliefs and laws from “the Jim Crow era.”

White Hall Entertainment’s request for reconsideration said that the new policy seeks to impose a system of injustice and worsen the mistreatment of predominantly black counties. The casino accused the state of never caring about its Black citizens throughout its entire history.