Loving v. Virginia was a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1967 that invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the United States. The Court ruled that such laws violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision effectively ended the legal ban on interracial marriage, affirming the rights of individuals to marry regardless of race. The ruling was a significant milestone in the Civil Rights Movement, promoting greater equality and marriage freedom.
The couple in the Loving case were residents of Virginia who married in the District of Columbia and then returned to live in Caroline County, Virginia. A Caroline County grand jury indicted the couple for violation of Virginia's ban on interracial marriage.
The Loving Decision (Loving v Virginia).
in June 12, 1967
Loving v. Virginia is a Supreme Court case that found the Virginia statute prohibiting interracial marriages to be unconstitutional.
Loving v. Virginia
In the state of Virginia it was illegal for people of different races to marry. Loving and Virginia married even though they were an interracial couple. They faced many legal and social problems in Virginia because of this.
What was the effect of the Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia
Caroline County Circuit Court (January 6, 1959)
In the case of Loving v. Virginia, the concurring opinion was written by Justice Potter Stewart. He agreed with the majority's ruling that Virginia's anti-miscegenation law was unconstitutional but wrote a separate concurrence to emphasize that the freedom to marry was a fundamental right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. He argued that the Constitution prohibits interracial marriage restrictions just as it forbids measures that discriminate based on race.
Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1 (1967)The Lovings were an interracial married couple (Mildred and Richard Perry Loving) who were charged for cohabitating in the state of Virginia, a state that outlawed interracial marriage (They were married in DC before returning to Virginia). Their marriage license was actually used against them in the case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court.Then in 1967, 8 years after their arrest, the Court overturned the law.
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia
Loving v. Virginia was presented to the Supreme Court as a challenge to Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, which prohibited interracial marriage. Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, were convicted for violating this law and sentenced to a year in prison, which led them to appeal their case. The Lovings argued that the law violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection and due process. Ultimately, the Court ruled in their favor in 1967, declaring such laws unconstitutional.