Almost six years had passed since Julius Chambers filed the initial pleading in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and the suit came before the United States Supreme Court on October 12, 1970. The Court ruled on April 20, 1971 that federal courts are constitutionally authorized to exercise broad powers to oversee and produce solutions to achieve school integration, including developing new attendance zones and busing policies to achieve more racially balanced schools.