Judge rejects injunction to stop Jacksonvilles simulated gambling ban – The Florida Times-Union

Steve Patterson @StevePatTU

WednesdayOct16,2019at9:22AM

A lawyer for three internet cafe operators asked for an emergency injunction to freeze enforcement of ordinances written to close scores of businesses.

A federal judge rejected a request for a temporary injunction stopping enforcement of Jacksonvilles laws banning casino-style electronic games the city calls simulated gambling devices.

A lawyer for three businesses operating internet cafes argued the ban illegally violated free-speech rights by restricting video games central to the cafes, but U.S. District Judge Brian Davis was unconvinced.

This court finds that plaintiffs are unlikely to show that the ordinances run afoul of the United States Constitution, he wrote in an order Tuesday.

Davis said similar arguments already were shot down in federal lawsuits in Tampa and Central Florida, where the internet cafes lawyer, Kelly Mathis, had represented part of the ill-fated organization Allied Veterans of the World.

Allied Veterans was the target of a state racketeering investigation that led to Mathis being arrested in 2013 and sentenced to six years in prison, although the conviction was later thrown out and his law license was restored.

Mathis went to state court last month on behalf of three companies Triad Venture Capitalists, LLC, The Grand Arcade, LLC and Chapman Enterprises of Atlantic Beach, Inc. fighting a law the city adopted in May that would have forced internet cafes to stop using simulated gambling devices by February. The case moved to federal court and the challenge became more immediate after the city adopted another ordinance making the ban effective immediately.

The city ordinances declared places using the banned devices public nuisances because of robberies and shootings that have happened around internet cafes, estimated to number 140 to 160.

Code-enforcement inspectors have been visiting the businesses and issuing cease-and-desist orders requiring them to remove devices that are their main source of income. The judges ruling only decided the immediate request to stop enforcement on an emergency basis, and didnt reach a final decision on the businesses suit.

Steve Patterson: (904) 359-4263

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Judge rejects injunction to stop Jacksonvilles simulated gambling ban - The Florida Times-Union