Judge Roy Moore and Foundation for Moral Law Applaud Alabama Supreme Court Decision Restricting Gambling
Foundation filed persuasive brief in pivotal case to restrict Alabama gambling
December 1, 2006
Former Chief Justice Roy Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law commend the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling today in David Barber v. Jefferson County Racing Assoc., Inc. et al that prohibits Milton McGregor and The Birmingham Race Course from using 1,300 Las Vegas-style video gambling machines. In an opinion that closely tracked the reasoning of the Foundation's amicus curiae brief in the case and on page 21 of the opinion even quotes from the brief, the Court concluded the MegaSweeps gaming machines included the elements of chance and consideration and therefore fit the definition of slot machines under Alabama law, rendering them illegal. The Court's opinion reverses Judge Scott Vowell's decision that the sweepstakes operation in Birmingham fell through the cracks of Alabama's strict anti-lottery law.
Regarding this victory, Judge Moore said, "We commend the Alabama Supreme Court for finding that the operations at the Birmingham Race Course are illegal and we hope this will encourage the Attorney General and other prosecuting attorneys of the state to take action against illegal gambling operations in Alabama."
The machines at the race course are set up like slot machines to "read" access cards purchased by customers to see if the customer has won based on the entries on the card. It is a game of pure chance in a building that even the trial court admitted "looks and feels like a gambling casino." In reaching its conclusion, the Supreme Court agreed with and quoted from the Foundation's brief that "when a consumer obtains his or her card with the assigned MegaSweeps entries, "'chance occurs at [that] point of sale.'" (Page 21). The Court also adopted the Foundation's contention that in looking at the element of consideration, the Court must examine the substance of the transaction, rather than just its form. The Court recognized that Jefferson County Racing Association tried to skirt Alabama law by modifying its gambling machines in certain ways, but those changes did not alter the substance of gambling activities at the race course.
Judge Moore and the Foundation call on the Governor, the Attorney General, and other law-enforcement officials to be more aggressive in rooting out other attempts by the gambling industry to get around Alabama law. The Foundation also calls upon the Legislature to enact further restrictions on gambling in order to rid the state of this unproductive and addictive industry that exploits the poor and attracts other crimes in the neighborhoods it infiltrates.
The Foundation for Moral Law, a national non-profit legal organization, is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and is dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through two methods: litigation relating to moral issues and religious liberty cases; and education consisting of forums for the public and pastors' seminars. For more information about the Foundation for Moral Law and a link to the brief, please click here or visit www.morallaw.org.
