Loving V. Virginia Case
Loving v. Virginia
Loving v. Virginia was a landmark civil rights decision of the USSC (United States Supreme Court), which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a colored woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state’s anti-miscegenation statue, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as “white” and people classified as “colored”. The decision was followed by an increase in interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on Loving day, June 12. On January 6, 199, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the charge, and were sentenced to one year in jail; however, the trial judge suspended the sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition that the Lovings leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25 years. The Jury stated in an opinion that:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
After their convictions, the Lovings took up residence in the District of Columbia. On November 6, 1963, they filled a motion in the state trial court to vacate the judgment and set aside the sentence on the ground that the statutes, which they had violated, were repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment.
The two statutes under which appellants were convicted and sentenced are part of are part of a comprehensive statutory scheme aimed at prohibiting and punishing interracial marriages. The Lovings were convicted of violating 20-58 of the Virginia Code:
“Leaving State to evade law. – If any white person and colored person shall go out of this State, for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of
Loving v. Virginia was a landmark civil rights decision of the USSC (United States Supreme Court), which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a colored woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were sentenced to a year in prison in Virginia for marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state’s anti-miscegenation statue, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as “white” and people classified as “colored”. The decision was followed by an increase in interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on Loving day, June 12. On January 6, 199, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the charge, and were sentenced to one year in jail; however, the trial judge suspended the sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition that the Lovings leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25 years. The Jury stated in an opinion that:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
After their convictions, the Lovings took up residence in the District of Columbia. On November 6, 1963, they filled a motion in the state trial court to vacate the judgment and set aside the sentence on the ground that the statutes, which they had violated, were repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment.
The two statutes under which appellants were convicted and sentenced are part of are part of a comprehensive statutory scheme aimed at prohibiting and punishing interracial marriages. The Lovings were convicted of violating 20-58 of the Virginia Code:
“Leaving State to evade law. – If any white person and colored person shall go out of this State, for the purpose of being married, and with the intention of