Loving v. Virginia Virginia is a landmark Supreme Court civil rights case in which laws banning interracial marriage were invalidated. The case arose when Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were sentenced to one year in prison in Virginia for getting married. Under state law at the time, their marriage violated the anti-miscegenation statute, known as the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This act required that a racial description of each person be noted at birth. He divided the whole society into two categories: white and colored. It defined race with the “one drop rule,” meaning if someone had African or Native American ancestors in their blood, they were to be considered a “colored” person. The law overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. Anti-miscegenation laws were not uncommon in the United States at this time, having existed in some states since colonial times. In the Reconstruction era of 1865, black codes in seven lower Southern states made intermarriage illegal, but new Republican legislatures in six states repealed the laws, deeming them restrictive. When the Democrats returned to power, however, the restrictions were reimposed. A major concern in the 1920s was where to draw the line and distinguish between whites and blacks in society, especially in a society where white men had several children with black slave women. The background to the case is extremely interesting to me because the case came to light by pure chance. On July 11, 1958, a couple of hours after midnight, Richard Loving and Mildred Loving were awakened by the presence of three officers in their bedroom. Apparently, an anonymous tip had been sent to local police, who expected to find the couple having sex, as interracial sex was illegal in Virginia. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The police officers found the Lovings sleeping in their bed, while Mildred pointed to their marriage certificate on the wall. Then they were told that although their union had taken place in the District of Columbia, it was not valid in the state of Virginia. The Lovings were charged under Section 20-58 of the Code of Virginia, which prohibited interracial couples from marrying out of state and then returning to the aforementioned state, and Section 20-59, which classified miscegenation as a crime , punishable by prison. sentence from one to five years. In early 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty to "cohabiting as husband and wife, against the Peace and Dignity Act of the Commonwealth". They had two options: a one-year prison sentence or leave Virginia and not get back together for 25 years. After this conviction, the couple moved to Washington..