City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders

Plaintiff City of Oakland appeals from a judgment after a court trial in favor of defendants Oakland Raiders et al. We have determined that plaintiff’s proposed exercise of eminent domain power would, in this case, violate the commerce clause of the United States Constitution. Accordingly, we affirm.

I. Facts and Procedure

Plaintiff sued in 1980 to acquire by eminent domain the property of defendants Oakland Raiders (Raiders), a National Football League (NFL or League) franchise. The Alameda County Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting transfer of the franchise from Oakland, the case was transferred to Monterey County (Code Civ. Proc., § 394), and summary judgment was entered for defendants. On appeal the Supreme Court reversed, holding our eminent domain statute allowed condemnation of in tangible property and that plaintiff had a right to show whether its attempted exercise of eminent domain over the Raiders franchise would be a valid public use. (City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders (1982) 32 Cal.3d 60 [ 183 Cal.Rptr. 673 , 646 P.2d 835 , 30 A.L.R.4th 1208 ] [Raiders I].) We subsequently granted a peremptory writ of mandate directing the trial…