Alabama won't take no for an answer.  Or, more to the point, it won't take "Class II" for an answer.

State officials continue to try to apply state regulations to the gaming machines operated by the Poarch Creek Indian Tribe.  The NIGC has determined that the tribe's machines are Class II.  And as anyone familiar with Indian gaming law knows, Class II gaming falls under tribal and federal jurisdiction.  Unlike Class III gaming, there is no regulatory role for the state with Class II gaming.  State law only comes into play in determining whether Class II gaming is legal in the state as operated "for any purpose by any person."  And bingo is legal in Alabama.

As we posted yesterday, Alabama Governor Riley is working to shut down tribal casinos for failure to comply with the state law prohibition against electronic bingo.  Kathryn's quoted in an article in Gambling Compliance, "Alabama Crackdown Shifts Focus to Tribal Casinos."

Maybe we should extend our offer for a crash course on tribal sovereignty and Indian gaming law to the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Robert Bently . . . .

Alabama Governor Bob Riley continues to target "illegal" tribal gaming in his state.  Too bad the law isn't on his side.

As we've written about before, Riley has been crusading against electronic bingo machines, which are illegal under state law.  He's shut down commercial electronic bingo across the state.  And he continues to try to shut down the Poarch Band of Creek Indians' Class II gaming operation, which features some 3000 electronic bingo machines.  He claims that because the machines are illegal under state law, the tribe can't operate them.

Well, it's no surprise to us that the NIGC told Gov. Bob Riley that he couldn't shut down "illegal" electronic bingo machines operated by the Poarch Creek Indian Tribe.  According to the NIGC, the machines are Class II, and bingo is legal in Alabama.  Riley has been targeting electronic bingo in the state, and wanted to include tribal bingo in his sights.  But his crackdown on electronic bingo can't extend to the Tribe's bingo machines, which are governed by IGRA rather than Alabama law.

A recent column got us thinking about Class II gaming and Alabama, in light of our last post on Gov.

State officials in Alabama are working to shut down "illegal" gaming in the state.  Why the quotes?  Because they're also targeting tribal casinos operating Class II electronic bingo machines, which the state charges are illegal slot machines.  Governor Bob Riley formed the high-profile and troubled Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling in 2008.  Just last month, the Task Force's "commander," David Barber, resigned from his post after he got lucky in the Mississippi Choctaw's tribal casino, winning $2300.  Barber's outing as a gambler once again brought to the fore charges that Riley himself has accepted political donations from Mississippi tribes with casinos, a charge the governor denies.  After Barber's resignation, Riley appointed long-time Mobile dist