State sues over ‘Chuck E. Cheese law’

Monday, June 11, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Attorney General Bill Pryor has filed suit in an effort to ban gambling machines that pay winners with coupons for cash or prizes.

Pryor filed the suit last week in Montgomery County Circuit Court asking that a statute known as the "Chuck E. Cheese law" be declared unconstitutional. The law was passed in 1996 to allow arcade games, like those found at the popular pizza restaurant, to award coupons for prizes.

But the law has cleared the way for adult gambling machines that award coupons for cash or merchandise to pop up in convenience stores and arcades across the state.

Pryor said the Legislature did not have the authority to legalize the games. He said the games constitute a lottery, which is illegal according to a recent Alabama Supreme Court advisory opinion.

The Supreme Court ruling was an advisory opinion issued in response to a legislative request for guidance on proposed gambling machine legislation.

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