Loving v. Virginia Strikes Down Bans on Interracial Marriage
Richard and Mildred Loving's decade-long legal fight ends with a unanimous ruling that marriage bans based on race violate the Constitution
Quick facts
- Location
- Central Point, Virginia; decided in Washington, D.C.
- Plaintiffs
- Richard and Mildred Loving
- Ruling
- Unanimous, June 12, 1967
What happened
Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, who was Black and Rappahannock, married in Washington, D.C. in 1958 because Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924 criminalized their marriage at home. On returning to Central Point, Virginia, they were arrested, pleaded guilty to violating the law, and were sentenced to a year in prison, suspended on the condition they leave the state for 25 years. The American Civil Liberties Union took their case, and on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Virginia's law violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection guarantees. Chief Justice Earl Warren's opinion described marriage as one of the "basic civil rights of man," too fundamental to restrict on a racial classification the Court found had no legitimate purpose beyond enforcing white supremacy.
Why it matters
The ruling struck down the last of the anti-miscegenation laws still on the books in sixteen states, and the Court's reasoning about marriage as a fundamental right later became a legal foundation cited in cases extending marriage rights further.
How we know
The National Archives holds documents from the case file, including the Lovings' original 1958 marriage certificate and the 1966 appeal record, alongside the Supreme Court's June 1967 opinion.
Sources
- National Archives (Pieces of History blog). The Fight for the Right to Marry: The Loving v. Virginia Case · Primary source (author-declared)prologue.blogs.archives.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- HISTORY (A&E Networks). Loving v. Virginia: 1967 & Supreme Court Case · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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