Alabama: Claptrap

Rants and Raves: Don't play word games

RANT: For the ludicrous argument by two defendants in the gambling corruption case who asked the judge who will preside at the trial to strike the words "pro-gambling" from their indictments. Ronnie Gilley and Tom Coker argued that the use of the term to describe the legislation around which the case revolves was prejudicial and inflammatory. It could influence jurors who have religious beliefs regarding gambling, they said.

What claptrap. As U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson noted, the gambling business will be part of the evidence, regardless of anyone's views. It was pro-gambling legislation. To try to obfuscate that plain fact is insulting.