By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: December 20, 2011
TAMPA —
Four companies filed a federal lawsuit against Hillsborough County and Sheriff David Gee on Tuesday, challenging a recently passed ordinance that bans so-called Internet sweepstakes cafés.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop the sheriff from enforcing the ordinance passed Dec. 7.
Lawrence Walters, a Longwood lawyer who filed the lawsuit, said the ordinance violates the four companies’ constitutionally protected speech.
“It’s been well settled that video games are protected by the First Amendment and recently by the (U.S) Supreme Court,” Walters said. “What Hillsborough County has done is ban video games because they resemble gambling even though they are not gambling.”
Café patrons pay for Internet time and are given a card that allows them to access video games that look like slot machines. But owners of the cafés say winning numbers for the games are predetermined. That makes them no more illegal, they say, than scratch-off cards used by fast food and retail stores to drum up business.
“The ordinance restricts the ‘computer simulation’ of an activity but allows the exact same activity to be done on paper, verbally or through any other non-electronic means,” the lawsuit states.
County Commissioner Sandy Murman, backed by the sheriff’s office, pushed for the ban, saying the cafés are a form of gambling but are not regulated or taxed like other gaming establishments.
Murman further charged that the parlors were preying on older residents and poor people. Supporters disagree, saying the cafés create jobs and provide wholesome fun for seniors and others with free time.
Chris Brown, legal counsel for Sheriff David Gee, said Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.
Murman could not be reached for comment.
Walters said he hopes to have a discussion with the sheriff’s office about stopping enforcement of the ordinance without an injunction. The Tampa Tribune reported Tuesday that about 30 cafés operating before the ban have closed. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said investigators have been visiting the cafés to inform the owners and managers of the ban.
“The problem the county has if they try to shut down my clients by enforcing the ordinance and then it is declared unconstitutional is that the county is then on the hook for substantial damages for loss of business,” Walters said. “It’s in the county and taxpayers’ interest to let the court consider these complicated constitutional issues before they take any knee-jerk reaction.”
Walters said his clients have changed the way they operate in hopes that they will not fit the language in the ordinance, thereby giving the sheriff leeway to halt enforcement.
Previously, they gave patrons electronic swipe cards that contained personal identification information and how much time they had purchased on the Internet. Now, customers will enter a personal identification number manually.
“By changing this business operation and method, we believe we are in compliance with the ordinance,” Walters said.
The cafes that filed the lawsuit are Paradise Internet & Sweepstakes on Cortaro Drive in Ruskin; Five Star Internet & Sweepstakes on West Brandon Boulevard in Brandon; Happy Mouse Internet Café and Sweepstakes, Sheldon Road in Tampa; and The Lucky Palms on Waters Avenue in Tampa.
