posted on September 10, 2004 02:43:49 PM new
Loving v. Virginia
388 U.S. 1 (1967)
Docket Number: 395
Abstract
Argued:
April 10, 1967
Decided:
June 12, 1967
Subjects: Civil Rights: Desegregation
Facts of the Case
In 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia. The Lovings returned to Virginia shortly thereafter. The couple was then charged with violating the state's antimiscegenation statute, which banned inter-racial marriages. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail (the trial judge agreed to suspend the sentence if the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years).
Question Presented
Did Virginia's antimiscegenation law violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Conclusion
Yes. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that distinctions drawn according to race were generally "odious to a free people" and were subject to "the most rigid scrutiny" under the Equal Protection Clause. The Virginia law, the Court found, had no legitimate purpose "independent of invidious racial discrimination." The Court rejected the state's argument that the statute was legitimate because it applied equally to both blacks and whites and found that racial classifications were not subject to a "rational purpose" test under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Virginia judge 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 marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
posted on September 10, 2004 07:07:57 PM new
They based a movie on this case. It was called "Mr. and Mrs. Loving". It was very interesting and sad in places.
Prevent Bigotry through Education.