The U.S. Supreme Court case Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman in 1976 dealt with the issue of racial segregation in public schools, specifically whether a school board's past discriminatory actions could be considered when assessing current policies and practices. The court ruled that if a once-segregated school system has been desegregated, it is not necessary for every single aspect to reflect racial balance; however, if it can be proven that current disparities are directly caused by previous discrimination then action must be taken to rectify this imbalance. In other words, the court held that there was no need for "racial balancing" unless it was shown that existing imbalances were due to past intentional segregation on part of the school board.

In the dissenting opinion for Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, Justice William Rehnquist argued that the court majority had overstepped its authority by imposing a remedy without sufficient evidence of systemic segregation. He contended that isolated instances of racial imbalance in schools did not necessarily prove intentional discrimination on part of the school board. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's reliance on past discriminatory practices to infer present intent to segregate, stating it was inappropriate and could lead to endless litigation as any racial imbalance could be attributed to past actions rather than current conditions or policies. In his view, such an approach would hold school boards perpetually liable for rectifying imbalances even if they were no longer engaging in discriminatory practices.