The case of Moore et al. v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education et al., 1970, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that upheld busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration in schools. The court ruled against parents who had sued the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district to block its use of busing to achieve racial balance among its schools. The plaintiffs argued that this policy violated their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because it involved race-based assignments and transportation arrangements for students. However, the Supreme Court held that such measures were constitutionally permissible if they were necessary to dismantle a dual school system based on race, which was found to be inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional.

In the dissenting opinion for Moore et al. v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education et al., Justice Hugo Black argued that the court had overstepped its boundaries by imposing a specific ratio of black to white students in schools, which he believed was not within their constitutional power. He contended that such an action went beyond simply preventing discrimination and instead constituted social engineering, something he felt was outside the scope of judicial authority. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential negative consequences from forced busing to achieve racial balance in schools, including increased racial tension and disruption to local control over education policy decisions.