In the case of United States et al. v. City of Chicago et al., 1970, the U.S Supreme Court dealt with issues related to racial discrimination in public housing and urban renewal programs in Chicago. The federal government accused city officials and the local public housing authority of violating both statutory provisions and constitutional rights by deliberately segregating African American residents into specific areas within the city through their policies on public housing location decisions and urban renewal plans. The court ruled that there was sufficient evidence to prove a pattern or practice of resistance to full equal opportunity, which violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) as well as other statutes designed to prevent such discriminatory practices. However, it also held that individual claims for relief could not be granted without proof that those individuals had been victims of discriminatory actions.

In the dissenting opinion for UNITED STATES et al. v. CITY OF CHICAGO et al., Justice Harlan disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a district court order requiring Chicago to redraw its ward boundaries in compliance with "one person, one vote" principles. He argued that federal courts should not intervene in local political matters unless there is clear evidence of constitutional violation or discriminatory intent, neither of which he believed were present in this case. Furthermore, he contended that the city had already taken steps towards redistricting and thus judicial intervention was unnecessary and intrusive on state sovereignty rights under Tenth Amendment principles. Lastly, Justice Harlan expressed concern over potential negative consequences of such intervention including increased litigation and disruption of local governance structures.