NC judge hears arguments in video poker dispute
Lawyers representing the North Carolina Amusement Machine Association had a chance to state their case on Wednesday as a Superior Court judge heard arguments privately as to whether to avert the first phase of a newly approved legislation, that will eventually lead to the banishment of video poker machines next year. The North Carolina Amusement Machine Association, a slew of its member companies and some poker players filed a lawsuit approximately two weeks prior, questioning the constitutionality of the law that the General Assembly had approved in June.
The attorneys representing the association have requested that Wake County Judge Narley Cashwell issue a temporary restraining order that would block enforcement of the first phase of the new law until the lawsuit is heard in court. Cashwell listened to attorneys representing both sides of the argument for less than one half-hour in his Raleigh office. Gene Boyce, a Raleigh attorney for the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, commented that the judge plans to come to make a ruling on the matter no earlier than Thursday afternoon.
The machine operators want the restraining order before Sunday, which is the day that the number of video poker machines in operation is to be reduced from the current three to two as according to the new legislation. That number will be cut in half by March 1, 2007 with no machines to be left operating by July 1 of the same year. Repeat offenders or those who are caught operating with five or more machines will face felony charges.  ÂÂ
The lawsuit contents that the planned phase-out will deprive video poker machine owners of compensation for their banned machines ; violate equal-protection rights and void a state compact with the Cherokees that allows for the operation of a video gambling casino on their reservation. State attorneys have presented affidavits to Cashwell form at least two sheriffs arguing for the elimination of video poker machines in the state. Their reasoning being the difficulty in seizing the machines that offer illegal cash payouts. They also contend that families are being hurt by relatives who are addicted to playing such machines. “This should not continue, and if ratified legislation survives judicial review, it will not,� wrote Sidney Causey, the sheriff of New Hanover County, in his affidavit.
Association members maintain that they are operating legal machines and that they have stayed within the limits of the law ever since a new round of restrictions had taken effect in 2000. According to the court officials, Carolina State law and Wake County court rules didn’t require Cashwell to hear arguments on the temporary restraining order in open court.
-Ryan Wallace