If the people of Alabama want to gamble, they should change the laws. Until then, the attorney general of the state says he will prosecute the state’s anti-gambling laws.
Last week Attorney General Luther Strange told the Etowah County Republican Party’s annual meeting, “I’ve said from the very beginning that if people want to change the law, it’s something they can do through their legislators,” he said, adding, “My only issue is to enforce the law as it stands now.”
Two years ago the state Supreme Court ruled that electronic bingo is illegal. But gaming developer Milton McGregor has defied that ruling by reopening his VictoryLand Casino in Macon County, as well as casinos in Lowndes County.
Both Strange and Governor Robert Bentley have called on local law enforcement to shut down the casinos, without result. Strange told the Republican group: “I don’t have anything new to report. We’re still evaluating it, and I haven’t spoken to the governor about it.”
If Bentley wanted to he could employ the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to shut down McGregor’s operations, says Strange.
Bentley is not totally opposed to gaming. He called a special session of the legislature to adopt a state lottery—without result.
The state is continuing to run its government off of the huge settlement that BP paid out to various gulf states over its huge oil spill of several years ago. Strange was coordinating counsel for the litigation that the states pursued against BP.
