Maloney Gaming Management, LLC v. St. Tammany Parish
(May 2011)
Maloney Gaming Management, LLC sued St. Tammany Parish, alleging that the Parish violated its due process rights under the Louisiana Constitution in enacting an ordinance that prohibits video bingo in the unincorporated areas of St. Tammany Parish. Plaintiff also alleged that it relied to its detriment on the state of the law prior to the ordinance, and expended significant sums in renovating properties that it planned to lease to charitable organizations that would have operated video bingo parlors. The Parish filed a motion to dismiss the action on the grounds that the ability to operate video bingo parlors is a revocable privilege, and not a protected property right. The Parish further argued that plaintiff, as a commercial lessor, was prohibited by law from operating video bingo, and could not reasonably rely that a third party would be allowed to conduct video bingo in the future. Although the district court denied the motion to dismiss, Tommy Anzelmo successfully appealed the ruling to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, who overruled the trial court and ordered the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims against the Parish.