In the case of Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler, 1975, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could not impose a yearly racial quota on school districts once they had been desegregated. The case arose when the Pasadena City Board of Education was ordered by a lower court to annually adjust its school boundaries or transfer students to maintain racially balanced schools after initial desegregation efforts were deemed insufficient. The Supreme Court overturned this decision in a 5-4 vote, arguing that such an order exceeded judicial authority and violated principles of local control over education policy. It held that while courts can intervene if resegregation occurs due to discriminatory actions by school authorities, they cannot require perpetual supervision over district policies absent evidence of intentional segregationist practices.

In the dissenting opinion for Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler, Justice Thurgood Marshall argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established precedent regarding school desegregation cases. He contended that the court had previously held that once a violation of constitutional rights has been found, it is not only appropriate but necessary for courts to ensure full compliance with their orders until all vestiges of segregation have been eliminated. The majority's ruling, he believed, undermined this principle by suggesting that after an initial plan has been implemented and racial balance achieved in schools at one point in time, further judicial supervision is unnecessary even if resegregation occurs due to demographic changes or other factors beyond control of school authorities. This interpretation could potentially allow school boards to evade responsibility for maintaining racially balanced schools and undermine efforts towards achieving true equality in education.