Abstract
In City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders, the California Supreme Court held that California's newly revised eminent domain statute authorized the taking of intangible, as well as tangible, property, and suggested that the taking and use of a National Football League ("NFL") franchise, and its concomitant contractual obligations, might be an appropriate public use within the meaning of the statute. Raiders represents far more than the application of traditional eminent domain analysis to a unique factual situation. The California Supreme Court not only ignored the traditional limits on sovereign takings, which it had earlier expressed, thereby giving the phrases "public use" and "property" entirely new meanings in eminent domain proceedings, but it also suggested that the power of eminent domain is potentially limitless, thereby pointing the way for other jurisdictions to similarly enlarge their power of eminent domain.
Recommended Citation
Carpenter, Scott R.
(1983)
"City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders: Defining the
Parameters of Limitless Power,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1983:
No.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1983/iss2/6