Authorities Raid Jefferson Co. Gambling Houses

In Family Council’s September update letter, we highlighted the proliferation of illegal gambling houses in Arkansas.

With the exception of the state lottery and the casinos and racetracks in Hot Springs and West Memphis, Arkansas law generally prohibits gambling.

However, we are hearing more reports of illegal gambling houses opening in some parts of Arkansas.

This week authorities in Jefferson County raided two suspected gambling houses–and they indicated other raids could happen in the future.

From what we have gleaned so far, one of these gambling houses appears to have been located in or near an old gas station; the other appears to have been located in a former or current bar or liquor store.

If you suspect a gambling house is operating in your community, please notify your local authorities. Then call us at (501) 375-7000.

Attorney General Rejects Casino Proposal

Last week Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge rejected a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing casinos in Arkansas.

The A.G. called the proposal’s ballot title, “very confusing to the point of being nonsensical.”

As far as we can tell, the proposal effectively would have allowed casinos in any municipality with a population greater than 20,000 people.

This is not the first time efforts have been made to bring casino gambling to Arkansas. In 2005 the Arkansas Legislature passed legislation paving the way for “electronic games of skill” at Arkansas’ racetracks; these games look and function much like traditional casino games.

Constitutional amendments legalizing casino gambling elsewhere in Arkansas have been proposed almost every election year–including last year.

And the Arkansas Lottery has tried in the past to expand its gambling operation to include casino-style games such as keno.

There are no two ways about it: Gambling is a blight on the community; we have seen time and time again how it hurts families and ruins lives. That’s why we oppose any effort to expand gambling in Arkansas.

Court Strikes Bad Casino, Tort Proposals From Ballot

my_trusty_gavelThe following press release is from Family Council Action Committee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 13, 2016

On Thursday the Arkansas Supreme Court disqualified ballot proposals, Issue 4 dealing with limits on damages in medical injury lawsuits and Issue 5, which opens three casinos in Arkansas, from the November ballot.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “In my opinion, both of these measures were seriously flawed and needed to be removed from the ballot. While I support general medical malpractice reforms for doctors, Issue 4 could have made it possible for some nursing homes to neglect residents without facing sufficient consequences. Issue 5 would have brought casinos to three counties in Arkansas, and it would have written a specific corporation from Missouri into our state’s constitution. I am glad to see the Arkansas Supreme Court has disqualified these proposals.”

Cox said he also believes the court should have ruled against the two marijuana ballot proposals as well in order to be consistent with this ruling. “The Arkansas Supreme Court disqualified Issues 4 and 5 in part because they failed to define some of their key terms in the proposals. Marijuana Issues 6 and 7 fail to define some of their key terms as well, but the court left those proposals on the ballot. The court was right to disqualify Issues 4 and 5, but by the same standard, the court should have disqualified the two marijuana measures as well.”

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons