The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in
Virginiafor marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state's
anti-miscegenationstatute, the
Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "
white" and people classified as "
colored". The Supreme Court's unanimous decision determined that this prohibition was unconstitutional, overruling
Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all
race-based legal restrictions on
marriage in the United States.
The decision was followed by an increase in
interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on
Loving Day, June 12. It has been the subject of two movies, as well as several songs. Beginning in 2013, it was cited as precedent in U.S. federal court decisions holding restrictions on
same-sex marriage in the United Statesunconstitutional, including in the 2015 Supreme Court decision
Obergefell v. Hodges.
The case was brought by Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, who had been sentenced to a year in prison in
Virginiafor marrying each other. Their marriage violated the state's
anti-miscegenationstatute, the
Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriage between people classified as "
white" and people classified as "
colored". The Supreme Court's unanimous decision determined that this prohibition was unconstitutional, overruling
Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all
race-based legal restrictions on
marriage in the United States.
The decision was followed by an increase in
interracial marriages in the U.S., and is remembered annually on
Loving Day, June 12. It has been the subject of two movies, as well as several songs. Beginning in 2013, it was cited as precedent in U.S. federal court decisions holding restrictions on
same-sex marriage in the United Statesunconstitutional, including in the 2015 Supreme Court decision
Obergefell v. Hodges.
