Essay about Anti-Miscegenation Statutes in the United States

Analyze and evaluate each case independently by providing the following (about two paragraphs per case): In 1948, Andrea Perez, a Mexican-American woman, and Sylvester Davis, an African-American man,filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Clerk W.G. Sharp (Perez vs. Sharp, October 1, 1948).Earlier, they had sought a marriage license from the Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office but were denied such because Perez was racially classified as white and Davis as negro. â€Å"In this proceeding in mandamus, petitioners seek to compel the County Clerk of Los Angeles County to issue them a certificate of registry (Civ. Code,  § 69a) and a license to marry. (Civ. Code,  § 69.) In the application for a license, petitioner Andrea Perez states that she†¦show more content†¦For that reason, legislative classification or discrimination based on race alone has often been held to be a denial of equal protection. Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 [6 S.Ct. 1064, 30 L.Ed. 220]; Yu Cong Eng v. Trinidad, 271 U.S. 500 [46 S.Ct. 619, 70 L.Ed. 1059]; hill v. Texas, 316 U.S. 400 [62 S.Ct. 1159, 86 L.Ed. 1559]. In 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia.. They got married in Washington D.C. because in their home state of Virginia the law still forbade interracial marriages, known in those days as miscegenation. After their marriage, they lived together in Caroline County, Virginia. The couple was then charged with violating the states anti-miscegenation statute, which banned inter-racial marriages. In 1959 they were found guilty of violating the law and both were sentenced one year in jail, although they were promised the sentence would be suspended if they left the state and did not return for 25 years. The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution (Constitution) prohibits classifications drawn by any statute that constitutes arbitrary and invidious discrimination. The fact that VirginiaShow MoreRelatedThe Statutes Pave V. Alabama Loving V. Virginia Essay1364 Words   |   6 PagesAssignment 2: The Statutes- Pace v. Alabama Loving v. Virginia Ashlee R. Hall PAD 525: Constitution Administrative Law Dr. Lee January 29, 2012 Was there ever a period in history where interracial marriages and sex among people of different races was considered illegal? As absurd as this idea sounds, the answer is yes. Astonishingly, less than 40 years ago marrying someone of a different race was considered illegal. Black people could not be with white people- it justRead MoreLoving V. Virginia, Introduction, Facts, Legal Background1567 Words   |  7 PagesVirginia to marry, or to live as husband and wife. Prior to the 1967 case of Loving v. Virginia, many states had laws that banned the intermarriage of whites with black or other minorities. The United States has a long history of the existence of anti-miscegenation laws that forbid interracial marriage. The case presents the constitutional question whether a statutory scheme adopted by the State of Virginia to prevent marriages between persons solely on the basis of racial classifications violatesRead MoreCivil Liberties And Civil Rights1500 Words   |  6 Pageslook a t some of the historical context which would have found me jailed. Lastly, we will conclude by looking at the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court s landmark decision which has preserved my civil liberties as well as my civil rights. In the United States, civil rights and civil liberties are two concepts which have been interwoven into the fabric of our nation since its inception. Civil liberties can be defined as the rights and freedoms intrinsic to the human person. As such, civil liberties canRead MoreRichard Loving, A White Man And Mildred Jeter913 Words   |  4 Pagesviolating Virginia’s Anti-miscegenation Statue. That bans inter-racial marriages. The Loving’s were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail but the judge offered to suspend their sentence if the Loving’s were to leave Virginia and not return for 25 years. ï‚› Racial integrity Act of 1924 prohibited interracial marriage and was passed by the General Assembly to protect â€Å"Whiteness† from negative effects of race-mixing. ï‚› What is the Question: ï‚› Did Virginia s anti-miscegenation law violate the EqualRead MoreHow The Virginia State Statue Of Anti Miscegenation And The Fourteenth Amendment Essay2353 Words   |  10 Pagesand marriage in the history of the United States, I decided to write a reflection on my thoughts views, fact findings and information regarding biracial marriages and segregation laws that were discriminatory in history. I read the short story about the Loving family and their pursuit to the Supreme Court in 1967, I thought of my own family history and realized that my paternal grandparents would’ve been prosecuted had they lived in Virginia or any other state that prohibited bi-racial marriagesRead MoreEssay on Loving v. Virginia (388 U.S. 1)2059 Words   |  9 Pagesguilty in violation of the states anti-miscegenation statute. Mr. and Mrs. Loving were residents of the small town of Central point, Virginia. They were family friends who had dated each other since he was seventeen and she a teenager. When they learned that marriage was illegal for them in Virginia, they simply drove over the Washington, D.C. for the ceremony. They returned to Virginia and were arrested the following month for violating the anti-miscegenation statute, which was declared in the RacialRead MoreThe Supreme Court and Civil Rights Essay991 Words   |  4 Pagesand procedural guarantees in criminal and civil rights,† (Dawood). It was not until 1791, that the Bill of Rights was appended to the constitution, which helped clarify these rights to citizens. â€Å"Rights were eventually applied against actions of the state governments in a series of cases decide by the Supreme Court,† Dawood stated. In previous years (1790-1803), the Supreme Court had little say in decisions being made by government. As time went on the Supr eme Court took on more responsibility and startedRead MoreShould Same Sex Marriage Be Legal?2556 Words   |  11 PagesBlock F June 10, 2015 US History: Definition of a â€Å"Real Marriage† Can the US government define a marriage in 2015? In the United States, marriage is defined as â€Å"a formal union between a man and woman† [New York Times]. It is estimated that 229 million people currently are legally married in United States [Freedom to Marry]. But at the same time only thirty-six states including the District of Columbia is where same sex marriage is legal [Freedom to Marry]. Recent controversy about same sex marriageRead MoreThe Life Of Mildred Delores Jeter And Musiel Byrd Jeter1239 Words   |  5 Pagesthe 1960s when she and her husband, Richard Loving, successfully challenged Virginia s ban on interracial marriage. Mildred didn’t want to become an activist in the Civil Rights Movement, because all she wanted was to marry the man she loved in the state of Virginia where she was born. As a girl, Mildred was so skinny she was nicknamed String Bean, which was eventually shortened to Bean by her future husband, Richard Loving. Mildred was attending an all-black school when she first met Richard Lo vingRead MoreAmerican Government733 Words   |  3 PagesThe Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia (1967) resulted in the striking down of state laws that prohibited whites and African Americans from marrying. Mildred Loving, one of the parties in the case, issued a statement on the fortieth-anniversary of her case in which she urged that same-sex couples be allowed to marry. Q. Are the two issues—laws prohibiting interracial marriage and laws prohibiting same-sex marriage—similar? Why or why not? I believe laws prohibiting interracial marriage and