Freeman v. Pitts

503 U.S. 467 (1992)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Freeman v. Pitts

United States Supreme Court
503 U.S. 467 (1992)

Play video

Facts

In 1969, a federal district court issued a desegregation plan to the DeKalb County School System and maintained ongoing jurisdiction over the case under a Brown II consent decree. The school system then took a number of measures, including student reassignments, the introduction of magnet schools, and the recruitment of minority faculty under the decree, which effectively ended desegregation. Nevertheless, white people were moving out of certain neighborhoods to ensure their kids would not attend specific schools. This was called “white flight.” Thus, in 1981, the district court held that ongoing racial segregation in the school district had been caused by population shifts and not by the local government. The district court therefore found that it no longer needed to supervise student school assignments and gave up its jurisdiction over the case. A federal court of appeals reversed, based on the continued de facto segregation, and ordered the district court to look for solutions to the racial imbalance. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Kennedy, J.)

Concurrence (Blackmun, J.)

Concurrence (Souter, J.)

Concurrence (Scalia, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership