Mass. Casino Foes Can Proceed With Ballot Question

Casino gambling foes have received a court injunction allowing them to begin collecting signatures to put a question on next year's ballot. The group "Repeal the Casino Deal" is pushing an initiative that would repeal the 2011 state law that allows up to three casinos and one slots parlor in Massachusetts.

Attorney General Martha Coakley had disqualified the ballot initiative, ruling that it could violate the state constitution by resulting in the uncompensated taking of property from casino developers.

Kathleen Conley Norbut, a member of the group, said it received the court injunction late Friday giving casino opponents the green light to begin collecting signatures.

Norbut said that while the injunction doesn't constitute a final resolution, it has given a boost to activists hoping to block the construction of the gambling facilities in Massachusetts.

"We're looking forward to having the argument," Norbut said. "The attorney general based her decision on a very slim stretch of the wording having to do with takings and there's precedent that will clearly support our position."

With reporting by the Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom.