Case: Loving V. Virginia
In 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a black woman and Richard Loving, a white man were married in the District of Columbia. The Lovings returned to Virginia shortly thereafter. The couple was then charged with violating the state's anti miscegenation statute, which banned inter-racial marriages. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail (the trail judge agreed to suspend the sentence if the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years).
The passage above points out that, In the state of Virginia the Lovings was brought up on charges for what was considered a criminal act by crossing the barriers of racial segregation. In the state of Virginia people of different race was not suppose to have intimate relationships and definitely not marry outside of their race. The couple was brought to trail and sentenced to one year imprisonment. However, the trail judge, I guess thought he was doing the couple a favor by not enforcing jail time but having them leave the state for at minimum 25 years. In my eyes they were still being punished for being in love.
As pointed out in the fourteenth amendment, States must apply the law equally. The law prohibits discrimination against people or groups of people. In the case of Lovings V. Virginia the courts found there was no just cause for the state to punish the couple other than pure racial discrimination.
Stated under the Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race is up to the individual, and can not be dictated by the State.
I chose this passage because I find it interesting that we as people have come such a long way and it's sad to say that inter-racial relationships are still frowned upon today. Maybe not in the court system but in society. A lot of people believe one should not date or marry outside of their race. I believe if two people are in love, it shouldn't matter the race as long as they are happy. Two each his own.
