Alabama lawmaker wants tougher penalties for illegal gambling

Rep. Matthew Hammett, a Republican flawmaker from Alabama, is keen to see people who promote or run illegal gambling machines in the state face tougher penalties. Presently, a person who promotes gambling or profits from illegal gambling is charged with a Class A misdemeanor.

However, Rep. Hammett believes this is not a sufficient punishment and wants to see the law changed. Rather than charging people with a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense, the lawmaker wants to promote it to a Class C offense instead.

Alabama lawmaker wants tougher penalties on illegal gambling

This would entail a prison sentence of up to 10 years, and a minimum of one year, which is the maximum penalty for a Class A offense. There would also be a monetary fine of $15,000. On second offense, however, the offense becomes a Class B felony which entails anything between two and 20 years, and a fine of up to $30,000.

The measures may appear too harsh, but Rep. Hammett is confident that this is the best way to move forward. He argues that the current punishment is too lenient and the existing criminal law, it fails to properly address and deter the crime itself.

"It needs to be rewritten. I hope that that’s the end result, that it deters illegal activity," he argues. Rep. Hammett goes further to define what he considers illegal gambling, and his bill includes historical horse racing machines, a hotly debated part of the Alabama gambling landscape.

However, Rep. Hammett wants to make sure that it is understood that the bill does not mean to go after legitimate businesses, but rather those who are using a grey area phrasing in the law to run illegal gambling.

Anti-gambling attitudes simmer at the highest level in Alabama

The bill was also backed by Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell who worked with Rep. Hammett on the bill. Merrell is an even bigger gambling hawk than Rep. Hammett, and he believes that gambling, in any of its forms – whether it is regulated and legal or in the black market – is harmful to the economy and society.

"The statistics are very clear that be it illegal or legalized, gambling hurts local economies, increases poverty, increases addiction, increases crime," he told AL, a media news outlet. House Bill 41 is still only a proposal and has a long way to go before it may actually become law.

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