Milliken v. Bradley

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Citation. 418 U.S. 717, 94 S. Ct. 3112, 41 L. Ed. 2d 1069, 1974 U.S.

Brief Fact Summary. The schools of the city of Detroit, Michigan were racially imbalanced in the eyes of the District Court. The court’s remedy was to redraw lines of neighboring suburban school districts to achieve racial balance within the city’s schools.

Synopsis of Rule of Law. The District Courts cannot redraw the lines of integrated school systems to achieve racial balance in a segregated school system absent an interdistrict violation or effect.

Facts. Attempts to integrate the Detroit schools had been unsuccessful. The District Court redefined the area in question from the city itself to the outlying school districts in the metropolitan area, a total of 54 school districts, including the Detroit district itself. The proposed redistricting would cause significant administrative and financial problems for the resulting school system.

Issue. May District Courts redraw the boundaries of integrated school districts to achieve integration in a segregated district?