SAN FRANCISCO -- A Los Angeles Raiders attorney, receiving a favorable California Supreme Court decision, claimed the city of Oakland, Calif., has reached the end in its attempts to get back the NFL franchise.
However, an Oakland attorney said the city may take its eminent domain case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Raiders lawyer Joseph Alioto also said if Oakland had improved the Oakland Coliseum with the more than $5 million it will be forced to pay in lawyers' fees, Raiders owner Al Davis would not have moved the team to Los Angeles.
The Supreme Court announced Thursday it would not consider Oakland's appeal of a November 1985 state Court of Appeal decision that Oakland's use of eminent domain to condemn the team and take it over was a violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Dave Self, the attorney for Oakland, said he would take up the possibility of an appeal to the nation's high court with the City Council.
Self called the court action 'very wrong.
'If it is allowed to stand, it would call into question a great many eminent domain actions around the country.'
Alioto said the court loss ended 'a conspiracy' between Oakland and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle.
'The eminent domain conspiracy between Pete Rozelle and the city of Oakland has hit the end of the line,' the former San Francisco mayor said. 'But the economic and emotional damage suffered by the Raiders and the Raiders family has been enormous. The city of Oakland spent millions on this baseless lawsuit that should have been spent to improve its schools and to fund its social programs.'
Alioto's final comment was in reference to a six-week strike by Oakland teachers earlier this year. During the heated walkout, Oakland mayor Lionel Wilson was severely criticized for having secretly set aside $30 million in public funds to purchase the Raiders if the city was successful in its case.
The 1st District Court of Appeal initially brought up the commerce clause argument Nov. 15, 1985, when it ruled Oakland officials could not use eminent domain to force the team's return from Los Angeles.
The three-judge lower court said the city's condemnation of the Raiders would have forced the team to play permanently in Oakland. The justices decided that would be a form of regulation of interstate commerce. The U.S. Constitution prohibits cities and states from interfering with interstate commerce.
'Although the clubs compete to an important degree, the league is also a joint venture of its members organized for the purpose of providing entertainment nationwide,' the justices wrote three months ago.
The court noted Oakland's attempts to force the Raiders back 'is the precise brand of parochial meddling with the national economy that the commerce clause was designed to prohibit.'
A single one-line order by the state Supreme Court allowed that ruling to stand. Only Justice Cruz Reynoso noted he would have voted to grant a hearing. Justices Allen Broussard and Edward Panelli did not participate.
The city of Oakland first filed its eminent domain action in 1980 after team plans to move from Oakland to Los Angeles were disclosed. The franchise moved in 1982.
Davis said he moved the team because of the potential for greater profits at the Los Angeles Coliseum. He had criticized the Oakland Coliseum facilities.
Lack of fan support in Oakland was never the reason for the move. Attendance for the Raiders in Oakland was among the highest in the NFL.
