This case is significant by that it tests whether people of different races can marry each other. At the time, a white male and a black female getting married was unthinkable and was looked upon with contempt. There were actual state laws that prevented whites from marrying blacks. This case discusses how Virginia's law to segregate blacks and whites from marrying each other was eventually overturned by the superior court because of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protections Clause.
In the year 1958, Mildred Jeter (a black female) and Richard Loving (a white male) got married in the District of Colombia, but are residents of Virginia. After the newly engaged couple returned to Virginia, they were charged with breaking the anti-miscegenation statute. This statute forbids interracial marriages. The Lovings was found guilty by the court and was sentenced to jail for one year. However, the judge agreed to suspend the sentence if they decide to leave Virginia and to not return for at least 25 years. The question that is at stake is if the Equal Protections Clause (which is a part of the Fourteenth Amendment) was broken by the anti-miscegenation law of Virginia). …show more content…
The court found that the Virginia law involved racial discrimination. The court rejected the states claim of their anti-miscegenation was not legitimate by that the purpose of racial discrimination was not a part of a test under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court found that Virginia's law went against the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The judge of the case, Earl Warren, said that the Constitution protects the individual to decide to marry a person of another race and that the state cannot deny
In the year 1958, Mildred Jeter (a black female) and Richard Loving (a white male) got married in the District of Colombia, but are residents of Virginia. After the newly engaged couple returned to Virginia, they were charged with breaking the anti-miscegenation statute. This statute forbids interracial marriages. The Lovings was found guilty by the court and was sentenced to jail for one year. However, the judge agreed to suspend the sentence if they decide to leave Virginia and to not return for at least 25 years. The question that is at stake is if the Equal Protections Clause (which is a part of the Fourteenth Amendment) was broken by the anti-miscegenation law of Virginia). …show more content…
The court found that the Virginia law involved racial discrimination. The court rejected the states claim of their anti-miscegenation was not legitimate by that the purpose of racial discrimination was not a part of a test under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court found that Virginia's law went against the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The judge of the case, Earl Warren, said that the Constitution protects the individual to decide to marry a person of another race and that the state cannot deny