In June of 1958, Richard Loving, a white man, married Mildred Delores Jeter, a part African American and part Native American woman. The couple got married in Washington, D.C., outside of their hometown of Caroline County, Virginia. Shortly after the wedding, they returned home to Virginia. At the time, Virginia law included the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which banned an interracial couple from marrying. The Lovings married in the District of Columbia in order to escape the multiracial laws of Virginia. Not long after they wed, a police officer barged into their home on an anonymous tip and saw the two together. They were arrested and charged with breaking the law. They were held in jail for a few days before pleading guilty to their marriage …show more content…
Kennedy challenging the conviction and “[requesting] a state trial court to vacate the judgment against them on that the Virginia miscegenation laws violated the fourteenth Amendment” (Brannen and Hanes). He passed the matter to the American Civil Liberties Union who then “filed a motion on the Loving’s behalf” (Broderick). By reopening the case, the pair risked up to 5 years of jail time with no appeal, but Judge Bazile refused to vacate the conviction as he defended Virginia’s antimiscegenetion laws. The request was denied. However, his decision was appealed and the case went on to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in 1966. They also affirmed the conviction, backing up Virginia’s laws by claiming that they were rational and had legitimate reasoning. The Lovings then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court finally agreed to hear the Lovings’ case. The case attorneys for the Lovings were backed up by organizations and law firms like the ACLU and the NAACP. Assistant Attorney general R.D. Mcllwaine III argued that Virginia was only protecting interracial marriage couples as they faced greater pressure and problems in society. They also justified their actions by claiming that they were fair because the treatment between blacks and whites was equal. Philip Hirschkop, the attorney for the Lovings, argued that their 14th Amendment was violated because they were denied equal protection under …show more content…
At the time this case was decided, a cultural redefinition of marriage was beginning to take place. More and more people were becoming open to the idea of interracial marriage as they began accepting it. This court case served as further reassurance that interracial marriage wasn’t a bad thing at all. People began to understand that marriage should be between two people that love each other, no matter what their race is. Most people also realized that it was the basic, fundamental rights that established America that should allow citizens to follow their dreams and do whatever makes them happy. As these ideas began to develop and evolve more, people became more comfortable with interracial relationships as they become more frequent. The amount of people in mixed race relationships went up in part as a result of this case because people felt more free to love who they wanted. Courts now scrutinize racial classifications. The ruling also outlawed interracial marriage prohibitions. Today this case serves as a basis for reference for other court cases as well. It provides an example of how certain rights should be exemplified, and it shows which rights are the most important and concerning. Today, this court case has inspired people to have the freedom to choose any marriage partner that they love. This translates over into the right for gay people to
In the case of Loving v. Virginia (1967), an interracial couple by the name of Richard Loving, a Caucasian man, and Mildred Loving, an African American woman, moved to Washington D.C. because of Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 that banned whites and blacks from marrying. They both grew up in Virginia which was one of the many states that banned interracial marriages. After a few years of being married, the Loving’s returned back to Virginia to shortly be arrested for violating the miscegenation law. The law prohibited black and white couples from marrying out of state and then returning back to Virginia. Richard and Mildred were both charged and guilty of the crime that sentenced them to a year in jail.
They were married in Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal, just three months before Arthur’s death. Because Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriages, Obergefell was not able to be named on Arthur’s death certificate as surviving spouse. The suit was filed in an attempt for Obergefell to be listed in this way.
Richard Loving was born October 29, 1933, in Central Point, Virginia. Growing up in part of Caroline County, people of different ethnic groups openly socialized together. Loving being of Irish and English descent met his future wife, Mildred Jeter who was African American and Native American descent, when he was 17 and she only 11. What first started as a great friendship, soon turned romantic relationship. At 18 Mildred became pregnant and the two decided to get married.
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) Facts of the case: In 1924, the state of Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 which banned the marriage between a white person and a person of color. The law only targeted interracial marriages that consisted of a white person and a non-white person. The act had additional provisions that penalized the travel out of state for purposes of marriage between a white person and person of color; upon return to Virginia, the marriage would be subject to Virginian law. The punishment for the marriage was one to five years incarceration, and the marriage would be void “without any judicial proceeding.” Aware of the Racial Integrity Act, Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a black woman, traveled
In this case the Supreme Court debated whether inter-racial marriage should be allowed. This court case came up after an inter-racial couple tried to get married legally but was rejected by the state of Virginia. Therefore, couple did not think this was fair so they took the case up to the Supreme Court where the Court declared that not allowing interracial couples to marry was violating the Equal Protection Clause. Thanks to this case we have President Obama and many other famous celebrities and sports stars such as Seth
Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter legally became the Loving’s on June 2, 1958 (Coleman par 6). Soon after getting legally married in Washington D.C, the couple returned to their home of Virginia. While peacefully resting in the night police officers burst in their home and questioned what Richard
The Plessy V. Ferguson trial was very politically contentious. There was claims that the law were unconstitutional and wrong. Dr. Berman E. Johnson stated that “The “separate but equal” doctrine was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life and encouraged many states to launch a large offensive to legally relegate all African
In the case of Loving v. Virginia, the state of Virginia made a law where the marriage of whites and blacks together was illegal. The state of Virginia punished all whites and blacks who went against this law. In the end, the Supreme Court came to a conclusion that the state of Virginia was very wrong. They ruled on the side of the citizens. If this would not have happened, who knows what the world would be like today.
I think Justice Harlan‘s prediction was spot on correct. The ruling in this case did hugely impact the country in exactly the way he described it at first. For years there were many protest, anger, death caused by the segregation. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment did not guarantee anything against private segregation. They did make it known that things just had to be equal.
The movie “Loving” is based on a true story, and it depicts the lives of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, living in Virginia. In 1958, the couple went to Washington D.C and got married. They married here for the reason that interracial marriage was banned in Virginia. Yet, when they got back home, they were arrested. They spent the expanse of nine years struggling for their right to live as family in their town.
In the stories of Loving V. Virginia and “ Desiree’s baby ” both take place back in the day when racism was prevalent. The United States Supreme Court invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Although one of them is a fictional story while for the other one is an article on a real case that happened. After a close reading of Loving V. Virginia and the fictional story Desiree 's Baby by Kate Cho both couples react to interracial marriage in a way that demonstrates race relations don’t allow them to be happy and they believe they are as equal as anybody else and deserve to live how they choose to live. Loving V. Virginia took place in 1967 back then normal couples were considered as two people of the same race.
Even though this was a very sensitive issue back then, I feel that everyone should be entitled to equal rights. Race, sexuality, and gender should not define a person as something more or less. Even today, there at gays still struggling to have the right to marry the person that they love. Who are we to say that you cannot marry someone you love of the same
US Supreme Court Legal Brief Case Name: Loving vs Virginia: Interracial Marriage Case number: 399 US 1 Facts of the case In the stage of Virginia, there was an interracial couple that had just got married. Richard Loving was white and Mildred Loving was African American. They lived in Central Point Virginia. In the middle of night one day, three officers threw open the unlocked door, went to their bedroom, and arrested the couple.
The court has been arguing about this topic for a long time, well the arguments and opinions were heard at the next term to determine how the ruling would be imposed. After a year of rewriting new laws they called it brown ||. Loving v. Virginia. In Virginia of 1967 black and whites were not aloud to marry one another. The state of Virginia took this to the court and the united state constitution said that they agree with blacks and whites should not marry.
Furthermore, both Richard and Mildred Loving were arrested for miscegenation and subjected to the expulsion from Virginia. Virginia, at the time, established anti-miscegenation laws in where racial segregation and discrimination for marriage were present. For one, The Racial Integrity Act of 1924, only showed recognition of two races, which were colored and