Milliken v. Bradley I and II (1974, 1977)

Milliken v. Bradley (1974) (Milliken I) and Milliken v. Bradley (1977) (Milliken II) are two of several decisions rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of how to create racially diverse school populations by enforcing the mandate to desegregate K–12 schools established by the Court in its unanimous Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. This entry reviews the factual background of Milliken I and Milliken II, the legal issues, the judicial opinions of the majority and dissenting justices, and the impact of the Court's rejection of subsequent local efforts to create diverse school districts.