Part of the packed courtroom for the hearing with many people wearing T shirts saying “Aborigines for Bingo”

The Greene County Courthouse was packed for a hearing that began Wednesday on the validity of the search warrant that was issued for the latest June 1, 2011 raid on Greenetrack which resulted in the seizure of more than 300 electronic bingo machines. This seizure caused the second shutdown of bingo operations in Greene County, the loss of more than 100 jobs and revenue for county agencies and charities.

The Courthouse was filled with people wearing green T-shirts stating “Aborigines for Bingo” a reference to derogatory statements by State Senator Scott Beason of Gardendale concerning Black voter support for electronic bingo in Greene County. Some people objected to the shirts because they reinforced the use of a derisive term against Black people.

The search warrant was issued by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Houston L. Brown at the urging of Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and high ranking members of his staff including Henry “Sonny” Reagan and Chief Deputy Allen.

Brown, who is African-American, was appointed by Sue Bell Cobb, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, to hear the case last year of the seizure of 825 electronic bingo machines. Brown presided over this hearing which is in part a criticism of how he was selected to handle the case.

Attorneys for Greenetrack assert that the Alabama Attorney’s General’s office arranged for him to be appointed by the Court system to deal with  approving the search warrant for the second raid on Greenetrack, circumventing and arranging to go around the elected law enforcement officials in Greene County.

The search warrant alleging criminal wrongdoing in the operation of illegal gambling machines and the subsequent raid was developed and approved by the Alabama Attorney General’s Office without consulting Circuit Judge Eddie Hardaway, District Attorney Gregg Griggers, Sheriff Joe Benison or any other law enforcement officials in Greene County.

Greenetrack hopes to show that the search warrant was illegally sought and erroneously issued which would invalidate the seizure of its bingo machines.

Greenetrack has been operating under Constitutional Amendment 743 since it was overwhelming approved by Greene County voters in 2003. Greene County is the only place in Alabama which specifically approved “electronic bingo” as part of its Constitutional authorization for bingo. Greenetrack when operating was a beneficial entertainment and tourist industry that attracted people to the county to participate in gaming and generated jobs, tax revenues and contributions to county agencies and charities.

 Part of the issue being raised in this hearing is whether the voting rights of Greene County’s majority Black citizenry were violated when the State of Alabama bypassed local elected law enforcement officials and moved to close down a Constitutionally sanctioned activity which had been overwhelmingly approved by Greene County voters.

At press time the hearing was continued for another day as additional testimony was taken from witnesses. A full report of the hearing will be included in next week’s Greene County Democrat newspaper.