Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman

Summary

The Court vacated the Court of Appeals' systemwide desegregation remedy because the remedy was disproportionate to the constitutional violations found by the District Court and was imposed without the appellate court making new factual findings or identifying legal error. The Court remanded for specific findings concerning intentional segregative actions, their incremental effect on the current racial distribution, and a remedy tailored to that effect. Justice Brennan, concurring in the judgment, agreed with the disposition while emphasizing that federal equitable power to remedy school segregation remains broad, and Justice Stevens, concurring, stressed the importance of objective evidence of discriminatory intent.