About two weeks after casino opponents called on Martha Coakley to speak out for their cause, they are finally pleased with what the attorney general had to say yesterday.
In an unusual break with Senate President Therese Murray, Coakley said the Senate’s bill would “significantly limit law enforcement’s ability to protect the public.”
Coakley said the bill set for debate tomorrow is too narrow and creates a loophole “that would allow many significant criminal players … to avoid prosecution and continue to threaten public safety.”
“She came through,” Kathleen Norbut of United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts said emphatically.
But Norbut said there are still plenty of points in the bill Coakley could call out, including giving state police jurisdiction of casinos over local law enforcement.
“We’d like to see [Coakley] take stronger positions on many consumer protections not addressed.”
– State House News Service contributed to this report
