The Milliken v. Bradley case in 1973 was a significant U.S Supreme Court ruling that dealt with the planned desegregation busing of public school students across district lines among 53 school districts in metropolitan Detroit. The lawsuit was initiated by the NAACP, alleging racial segregation in Detroit's public schools and arguing for an inter-district remedy to integrate city and suburban schools. However, Governor William Milliken opposed this plan on grounds that suburban districts were not proven guilty of any constitutional violation relating to segregation within their own borders. In a close decision (5-4), the Supreme Court ruled against cross-district busing, stating it could only be enforced if evidence showed all involved districts had deliberately pursued a policy of segregation. The court held that federal courts did not have authority to impose such solutions where there wasn't proof of de jure segregation existing across multiple school districts; they could only address instances within specific offending jurisdictions or systems. This landmark decision significantly limited the scope for desegregation plans under Brown v Board Education ruling as it effectively insulated predominantly white suburban districts from being included into comprehensive metro-wide integration strategies.

In the dissenting opinion for Milliken v. Bradley, Justice William O. Douglas argued that segregation in Detroit schools was not solely due to individual choices but also a result of state policies and actions such as zoning laws and school district lines which perpetuated racial discrimination. He contended that these discriminatory practices were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus necessitating corrective measures beyond district boundaries if necessary. Furthermore, he believed that limiting desegregation remedies to within single school districts would effectively condone continued racial segregation in metropolitan areas with multiple small districts like Detroit. The majority's decision against inter-district busing plans for desegregation purposes, according to him, failed to address systemic racism adequately.