Decision in Loving v. Virginia
6/12/1967
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In June 1958, Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a black woman, quietly married in Washington, DC. They returned home to Virginia and woke up one morning with policemen in their bedroom. The Lovings were arrested for violating the Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
Richard and Mildred were found guilty and sentenced to one year in jail, or they could accept a plea bargain and leave Virginia. So they left. But by 1963, tired of visiting family and friends separately, they sought legal help. Attorneys Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkopf took their case to the Virginia Court of Appeals, where Judge Leon Bazile upheld the lower court’s ruling.
In his ruling convicting Richard and Mildred Loving, Judge Bazile wrote:
Richard and Mildred were found guilty and sentenced to one year in jail, or they could accept a plea bargain and leave Virginia. So they left. But by 1963, tired of visiting family and friends separately, they sought legal help. Attorneys Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkopf took their case to the Virginia Court of Appeals, where Judge Leon Bazile upheld the lower court’s ruling.
In his ruling convicting Richard and Mildred Loving, Judge Bazile wrote:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay, and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement….the fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Dated June 12, 1967, and initialed by Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, this page confirms the decision the justices reached—they voted unanimously in favor of the Lovings. They ruled Virginia’s law violated the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment. The Lovings returned to Virginia following the ruling.
Transcript
Supreme Court of the United StatesNo. 395 ----- , October Term, 1966
Richard Perry Loving, et ux.,
Appellants,
v.
Virginia
Appeal from the Supreme Court of Appeals -----Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the Supreme Court of Appeals ---- Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia --- and was argued by counsel.
On consideration whereof, It is now here ordered and adjudged --- by this Court that the judgment and conviction --- of the said Supreme Court of Appeals --- Court, in this cause, be, and the same is hereby, reversed with costs; and that this cause be, and the same is hereby, remanded to the Supreme Court of Appeals of the Commonwealth of Virginia for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion of this Court.
It is further ordered that the said appellants, Richard Perry Loving, et ux., recover from the Commonwealth of Virginia Three Hundred and Thirty-one Dollars and Thirty-eight cents ($331.38) for their costs herein expended.
June 12, 1967
Clerk's costs $ 176.88
Printing of record 154.50
Total $ 331.38
3448 SW [handwritten initials]
File No. ---
Supreme Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM, 193
Term No. ---
Filed, --- 193
U. S. Government Printing Office: 1933 16978
This primary source comes from the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States.
National Archives Identifier: 7873519
Full Citation: Decision, Loving v. Virginia; 6/12/1967; 395 OT 1966; Appellate Jurisdiction Case Files, 1792 - 2014; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States, Record Group 267; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/decision-loving-v-virginia, March 27, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
