Freeman v. Pitts

In 1969, a federal district court placed the DeKalb County School System under a desegregation decree and retained ongoing jurisdiction. The school system implemented reassignments, magnet schools, and minority faculty recruitment that effectively ended de jure desegregation, but "white flight" -- families moving to avoid certain schools -- caused continuing racial imbalance. In 1981, the district court found this later segregation was caused by private population shifts rather than the school district, relinquished jurisdiction over student assignments, and a court of appeals reversed based on the continuing de facto segregation, ordering the district court to find remedies.