Judge Rules in Favor of Task Force 

A federal judge had decided that the Task Force does have the ability to crack down on illegal slot machines in the state of Alabama – no matter what county you are in. Houston County is just the latest county in Alabama to find out that corruption is not going to work with this governor in charge, and that the laws that have been set by the state of Alabama apply to everyone – not just a select few. 

US District Judge Myron Thompson ruled against the Country Crossing casino, saying that they did not have the right to operate illegal slot machines. The casino had closed their doors on January 29^th to stop a raid by the Governor’s Task Force. Then they asked for a restraining order to keep them from being able to take any of the casino’s illegal slot machines. The judge simply told them no, and that they were subject to the same laws as everyone else. 

Task force commander John Tyson was pleased with the ruling and said that this judge has simply “blocked another effort by gambling operators to carve out special rules for themselves.” The casino had gotten an illegal temporary restraining order from a local judge, which obviously did not hold up in court. That ruling was struck down in the Alabama Supreme Court.  

There are those within the state that say that there is ambiguity in the laws pertaining to slot machines and so the machines should be allowed until the law is made clear. However, the court said that there is nothing that needs to be clarified – slot machines are illegal plain and simple. Tyson said that every time a politician tries to break the law they are simply adding to the ability for corruption to grow and this cannot go on.