Charitable organizations and disabled people are back in Sacramento federal court asking for an order barring enforcement of two new laws outlawing electronic bingo.
The charitable and disabled plaintiffs, along with a game manufacturer, want U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to halt enforcement of a new state law by expanding his June preliminary injunction that prohibits the state from seizing electronic bingo games.
They also want Mendez to prevent enforcement of a new Sacramento County ordinance by adding it to the injunction. The ordinance tracks the language of the new state statute, Senate Bill 1369.
A motion filed Friday argues that outlawing the slot machine look-alikes would violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act because many disabled people cannot manually play bingo and thus would be denied access to games sponsored by charities.
Both the state law and the ordinance would take effect Jan. 1. The ordinance has not yet passed, but is up for the board's consideration Wednesday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs are asking Mendez to hear oral arguments on their motion Dec. 17 .
The state began cracking down in the Sacramento area earlier this year when, acting under its interpretation of a Penal Code section, the attorney general's office warned operators to get rid of the machines within 30 days or face sanctions. It is the state's position that bingo is played only on grids printed on paper, with ink daubers and live callers.
The warning prompted a federal lawsuit on behalf of Video Gaming Technologies, a Tennessee-based manufacturer; United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento and WIND Youth Services, both of which derive substantial revenue from bingo fundraisers; and two disabled Sacramento residents, Robert Foss and Joan Sebastiani.
They name as defendants the Bureau of Gambling Control, which would enforce the new state law; its acting chief, Matthew Campoy; and Sheriff John McGinness, who would enforce the new county ordinance.
Since 1977, charitable bingo has funded high school extracurricular programs, helped feed seniors and supported the homeless and disabled.
But Indian gambling interests, insisting electronic bingo games infringe on their exclusive rights to operate slot machines, lobbied for the new state law and threatened to withhold millions of dollars of gaming revenue owed the state.
The new state and county laws "eliminate the only reasonable accommodation that would allow plaintiffs Foss and Sebastiani, and other disabled individuals, the access to charity bingo games that the able-bodied enjoy," wrote attorney Matthew Jacobs in a memorandum filed with Friday's motion.
Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.
