Editorial: Illegal Seminole gambling in Florida

Wednesday, November 5, 2008  

"While the governor doesn’t seem to care about illegal gambling in our state, it seems the attorney general does. For that, Bill McCollum deserves the gratitude and support of Florida Baptists.

Although Gov. Charlie Crist continues to allow illegal gambling to occur at the Seminole Tribe’s Hollywood casino—in spite of an unanimous Florida Supreme Court ruling finding invalid his compact with the Seminoles—those of us concerned about expandedgambling in Florida should be comforted by the fact that it appears McCollum is determined to use his office to attempt to rectify this appalling situation.

I last wrote about the incredible fact that Crist continues to permit illegal gambling in our state in a Sept. 25 editorial, “Obey the law, Gov. Crist.” Now, some six weeks later—and more than four months after the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating the Crist-Seminole compact–the illegal gambling continues without protest from our governor.

In the now-invalid compact, the Seminoles agreed to pay the state hundreds of millions of dollars over the 25-year deal in exchange for Las Vegas-style slots (approved by voters for local referendums in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in a 2004 state constitutional amendment), exclusivity of those slots outside of Broward and Miami-Dade, and authorization for certain games—like black jack and baccarat—currently illegal in the state."

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Editorial: Illegal gambling in Florida, thanks to Gov. Crist (The Florida Baptist Witness 11/5)