Video game operators in Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties hoping for a sympathetic federal judge to allow them to stay in business came up apparent losers Monday.
U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent said he could find no valid legal reason to side with arcade owners against authorities who are trying to close the businesses in the 19th Judicial Circuit. DeMent, in a 14-page ruling released Monday afternoon, said the rights of video game operators who filed suit against District Attorney Randall Houston have not been violated.
"We knew (the gaming machines) were illegal before they filed suit," Chilton County Chief Investigator Jay Edwards said. "That's why we wanted them closed down." The arcade owners had requested a temporary restraining order or an injunction to keep authorities from closing their operations. DeMent gave them neither.
Mobile attorney Dan Turberville, who filed the federal lawsuit last week, was unavailable for comment Monday. The next step appears to be up to the arcade owners, who have until Aug. 10 to remove their gaming machines or have it done for them by Houston and sheriffs in each county.
Authorities in several Alabama counties have been cracking down on arcade owners in recent weeks, maintaining they violate the law by virtue of their presence in buildings ranging from large structures to convenience stores.
Houston's chief assistant, Sam Partridge, said Monday afternoon that he and the district attorney are "very pleased" with DeMent's ruling, which was made five days after the arcade owners filed suit against Houston.
Partridge said some arcade owners have voluntarily closed their operations after receiving letters from Houston which gave them the Aug. 10 deadline. He said others remain in business but indicated that DeMent's ruling is all his office needs to move in and move the machines out. "As of (Aug. 10) we will proceed according to the laws of this state against gambling," Partridge said.
Arcades popped up like mushrooms earlier this year, but authorities took issue with claims by owners that they are not games of chance. Although it is against Alabama law to pay cash to those who win, gifts ranging from department store certificates to food have been awarded.
Action to close the arcades followed a non-binding opinion issued by four of the nine members of the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year that any lottery or "scheme in the nature of a lottery" is illegal. Arcade owners claim that some "skill" is evident in use of the machines and, thus, do not violate the state's lottery laws.
Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor has asked the circuit court in Montgomery for a declaratory judgment on the 1996 law under which the arcades operate. Many district attorneys, including Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks, are awaiting a decision on Pryor's request before taking action. The only Montgomery County court case so far on the machines did not find them to be illegal.
In his ruling, DeMent suggested that the arcade owners may have felt they stood a better chance with a federal judge than in circuit court, which handles most local cases. DeMent said Alabama's circuit court system is "empowered to enjoin inequitable conduct" and compensate those who feel they have been wronged.
"The record does not reflect why (arcade owners) elected to file suit in this court rather then in the circuit courts of this state where (they) clearly have adequate remedies available," DeMent said, adding the owners "have failed to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits."
SOURCE:
Montgomery Advertiser
