Alabama Bingo Cases in Flux

Although there are many major pending cases that are related to the same gambling scandal in Alabama, judge after judge has been backing away from the caseload. At the time of this writing, all judges in Macon County have completely washed themselves of presiding over the high profile VictoryLand casino raid by the attorney general of the state of Alabama.

There are many reasons that judges will not take on the deeply political VictoryLand case. The original judge that was on the case was forced to step down. That judge, Tom Young, had a relatively long career ahead of him and it is unsure exactly why the Alabama Supreme Court forced him to retire early. However, there is a great deal of speculation that the vast political connections of the VictoryLand owner, Milton McGregor, may have had something to do with the move.

After the action against Judge Young, every other judge in the municipality in which the case would have been tried stepped aside. It was noted that the receipts from VictoryLand in Macon County accounted for a sizable percentage of city and county revenues. The casino also increased tourism by over 25% and the subsequent closing of the casino has drastically affected the overall bottom line of the county as well.

State court officials in the Alabama state capital of Montgomery are currently looking for replacements; however, they are having a number of judges pushing against the case even being moved to the municipality in fear that the political underpinnings of the case will cause far too much damage to too many careers to be held there. Greene County, another county in which the case could have been held, was completely moved out of the running for the high profile case once the only eligible judge for the job, Eddie Hardaway, Jr., also stepped aside at the request of the attorney general.

VictoryLand remains closed as the case against the lawfulness of bingo and other casino machines continues to be discussed around the Bible Belt state of Alabama and the politics of the situation continues to play out.