ABSTRACT
In Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1, a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court held that state prohibitions of interracial marriages were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. In June 1958, Mildred Jeter, an African American, and Richard Loving, a Caucasian, lawfully married in the District of Columbia. After their marriage, the Lovings returned home to live in Caroline County, Virginia. According to the Court, the Lovings' equal protection rights were jeopardized because the prohibition of interracial marriages emerged as a consequence of slavery and had been pervasive in Virginia since the colonial period. Chief Justice Warren reasoned that the Virginia law also violated the Due Process Clause, because marriage was a basic civil right of man and one of the essential personal rights to the pursuit of happiness.
