Excerpts From the Supreme Court's Decision in Freeman v. Pitts

The following are excerpts from the U.S. Supreme Court's majority and concurring opinions in Freeman v. Pitts (Case No. 89-1290).

JUSTICE KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court....

Two principal questions are presented. The first is whether a district court may relinquish its supervision and control over those aspects of a school system in which there has been compliance with a desegregation decree if other aspects of the system remain in noncompliance. As we answer this question in the affirmative, the second question is whether the court of appeals erred in reversing the district court's order providing for incremental withdrawal of supervision in all the...