In Raney et al. v. Board of Education of the Gould School District et al., 1967, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a "freedom-of-choice" plan for desegregating public schools was unconstitutional because it did not effectively eliminate segregation in practice. The case originated from Arkansas where African American students and their parents challenged the school district's policy which allowed students to choose which school they wished to attend but resulted in continued racial segregation due to societal pressures and historical precedent. The court held that such plans were insufficient if they failed to achieve actual integration, setting an important legal precedent for future cases related to school desegregation.

In the dissenting opinion for Raney v. Board of Education of the Gould School District, Justice Hugo Black disagreed with the majority's decision to strike down a "freedom-of-choice" plan as unconstitutional. He argued that such plans were not inherently discriminatory and could be used to facilitate desegregation in schools. According to him, it was wrong for courts to assume that these plans were designed or operated with racial discrimination intent without any evidence supporting this claim. Furthermore, he believed that striking down all freedom-of-choice plans would discourage school boards from taking voluntary steps towards desegregation and instead encourage them to wait for court orders before acting. This approach would slow down progress towards achieving racially integrated schools.