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An injunction is a court order requiring a person to do, or not to do, something in order to protect another's personal or property rights. A person who violates an injunction is in contempt of court and the court may fine or imprison him. An injunction usually is issued to prohibit an action. When it is used to command a positive action, it is called a mandatory injunction. During the 20th century, courts have used injunctions to protect and promote the civil rights of minorities, especially African Americans. For example, federal courts used injunctions to stop school district officials from continuing racial segregation in schools after the decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Courts also used injunctions to take positive actions, such as redrawing school district boundaries and ordering the busing of students between districts to achieve racially mixed schools. Thus, federal injunctions have become an important way of protecting the constitutional rights of individuals against infringement by state governments. See also Brown v. Board of Education