The company was previously a vendor of video poker machines. Owners were not available for comment but Lonnie Player, their attorney, said the suit was about equal treatment.
"This lawsuit simply asked the court to construe state law which we think is clear that there is no carve-out necessarily for one specific group versus the others," he said.
That specific group Player mentioned is the Cherokee Indians. The 2006 ruling prohibited establishments from having video poker machines, but made an exception for casinos operated by the Cherokee Indian Tribe.
"And under state and federal law, that cannot happen," Player said.
Judge Manning agreed, but also issued a stay of the order to give the state time to file an appeal.
Eddie Caldwell, Jr. of the North Carolina Sheriff's Association said law enforcement fears the ruling could bring back a host of problems they said the machines once caused.
“Sheriffs across the state have numerous examples of situations where citizens had called them where their spouse had lost all their paycheck at a video poker machine,” he said. “They didn't have money to buy groceries, to buy milk for their children."
Player said the lawsuit was not designed to take gaming rights away from the Cherokees, but to make it legal to have legitimate gaming in all of North Carolina.
He said it's possible that gaming could return to the state within a year if Manning's ruling stands.
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