City Of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders

220 Ca.Rptr. 153 (1985)

Facts

P sued in 1980 to acquire by eminent domain the property of D, a National Football League (NFL or League) franchise. This was to prevent D from moving to Los Angeles. Summary judgment was entered for Ds. On appeal the State Supreme Court reversed, holding the eminent domain statute allowed condemnation of intangible property and that P had a right to show whether its attempted exercise of eminent domain over the D franchise would be a valid public use. On remand, D asserted that eminent domain in this instance must be balanced against the commerce clause of the US constitution. The court entered judgment for Ds. Its decision is based primarily on three independent grounds: (1) that P's stated purpose is not a public use; (2) that P's action is invalid under federal antitrust law; and (3) that P's action is invalid under the commerce clause of the federal constitution.