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Alabama Gambling Task Force forced to return confiscated Gambling equipment

The July 02, 2023, By Takato Sugihara

State police returned electronic bingo equipment and left the Greenetrack casino Wednesday after a circuit judge issued a court order for the governors gambling task force to end a raid on the bingo operation, saying it was illegal.

The head of the Alabama Gambling Task force, John Tyson Jr., who considers bingo machines illegal slots filed a motion with the Alabama Supreme Court to strike down the orders of the presiding judge, Eddie Hardaway.

The state troopers, who had begun confiscating gambling equipment on Tuesday, returned it, and exited the casino after another court order arrived, instructing the state troopers to “vacate the premises” immediately.

Tyson said that last night’s court order was issued without a hearing, and without time for the state to defend its position, and even without a written request for relief. Late Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a Hardway order blocking the task force from raiding Greenetrack. Since then, Tyson has stated that the need for Supreme Court intervention has become even dire.

Governor Bob Riley’s spokesman Jeff Emmerson said Eddie Hardway was clearly and flagrantly ignoring the Alabama Supreme Court and should be removed from the case. It was not immediately clear when the justices might act. Hardaway scheduled a hearing Thursday. Riley's task force is seeking to confiscate more than 800 electronic bingo machines, which it contends are illegal gambling devices under recent Alabama Supreme Court rulings. Critics of the task force say the shutdown of Greenetrack wipes out more than 350 jobs in a poor, rural county that can't afford to lose them.

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