Which case addressed desegregation in school districts by applying a district-wide remedy?

Which case addressed desegregation in school districts by applying a district-wide remedy?

• A. Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
• B. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971)
• C. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• D. Adarand Constructors v. Peña (1995)

Answer: (A)

Desegregation remedies and how broad their geographic reach can be is the focus. Milliken v. Bradley establishes that, in most cases, a desegregation remedy must be confined to the boundaries of the local school district rather than requiring students to move across district lines to achieve integration. The Court said that cross-district (inter-district) busing or remedies aren’t permissible unless all districts in the metropolitan area are found to be part of a single, unified system with pervasive segregation. That makes the remedy effectively district-wide—applied within the Detroit district, not across multiple suburban districts. The other cases approach related ideas differently. Brown v. Board declared that segregation is unconstitutional but didn’t specify how to implement remedies across districts. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg approved busing as a tool to desegregate within a district, but it doesn’t establish the strict district-wide limitation that Milliken does. Adarand Constructors v. Peña deals with federal race-conscious programs more broadly, not school desegregation remedies within districts.

Desegregation remedies and how broad their geographic reach can be is the focus. Milliken v. Bradley establishes that, in most cases, a desegregation remedy must be confined to the boundaries of the local school district rather than requiring students to move across district lines to achieve integration. The Court said that cross-district (inter-district) busing or remedies aren’t permissible unless all districts in the metropolitan area are found to be part of a single, unified system with pervasive segregation. That makes the remedy effectively district-wide—applied within the Detroit district, not across multiple suburban districts.

The other cases approach related ideas differently. Brown v. Board declared that segregation is unconstitutional but didn’t specify how to implement remedies across districts. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg approved busing as a tool to desegregate within a district, but it doesn’t establish the strict district-wide limitation that Milliken does. Adarand Constructors v. Peña deals with federal race-conscious programs more broadly, not school desegregation remedies within districts.