Milliken v. Bradley

After Brown v. Board of Education held racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, Bradley (plaintiff) sued Michigan Governor Milliken (defendant), alleging unconstitutional segregation in the Detroit public school system; the district court agreed and ordered busing to desegregate Detroit schools, but the ordered remedy required busing across not just Detroit but also the fifty-three surrounding school districts in the metropolitan area, reasoning that desegregating Detroit alone would not achieve the racial balance the courts deemed desirable given the city's predominantly African-American population. The court of appeals affirmed the metropolitan-wide plan, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.