Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Honorable Stephen J. Roth presided over the landmark school desegregation case Bradley v. Milliken in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division from 1970 until his death in 1974. Roth ruled that the Detroit Public School system was guilty of de jure segregation and ordered the implementation of an inter-district metropolitan busing plan to achieve integration. The case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared Roth’s remedy to be impermissible and emphasized local control of schools in its July 1974 decision (Milliken v. Bradley 418 U.S. 717). The case files include trial materials (pleadings, desegregation plans, court transcripts, etc.), appellate materials, opinions and orders, correspondence, and clippings.

The Stephen J. Roth Bradley v. Milliken case files provide original source materials from one of the most contentious and influential desegregation cases in our nation's history. In addition to transcripts, court documents, and rulings, the collection permits scholar and citizen alike the opportunity to better understand Roth's conclusions and rulings with its rich trove of annotated briefs, personal law notes, manuscript drafts of opinions, and personal correspondence. Numerous secondary sources, including news clippings, appellate and Supreme Court decisions, and reports and journals consulted by Roth offer a rich context in which to understand the significance of the case in the history of Michigan and the nation as a whole. The Bradley v. Milliken case files consist of one series divided into seven subseries; the present arrangement reflects the order in which the materials were received from John Runyan, a former law clerk of Judge Roth's. Relevant materials have been added to case files over the years and this accumulation accounts for materials extant from 1975-1976.

Two lawsuits filed in 1997 (Gratz, et al. v. Bollinger; and Grutter, et al. v. Bollinger) made the University of Michigan a focal point in the national debate over the value and legality of affirmative action in higher education. The lawsuits brought by non-minority applicants challenged the legality of the university's admissions process. Documentation includes briefs, judicial orders and opinions, expert reports, trial transcripts and exhibits, and amicus briefs from companies and organizations supporting the university's position in both the Gratz and Grutter case. Also included are snapshot of the university's admissions lawsuits website and clippings and media files.

The records are organized in four series, Grutter v. Bollinger, et al., Gratz v. Bollinger, et al., Admissions Lawsuits Website and News Media. The first three series contain briefs, judicial orders and opinions, experts' reports, amicus briefs from companies and organizations supporting the university's position in the lawsuits, and a limited number of press releases and documents printed from the website maintained by the university's News and Information Services regarding the lawsuits. The News Media series, however, is entirely comprised of news articles, editorials and press releases from newspapers across the country. Note that the record group currently contains only public documents. It does not contain internal General Counsel documents or correspondence regarding the lawsuits.