Loving v. Virginia (1967)

In this equal protection and due process case, the Supreme Court struck down a Virginia law banning interracial marriage. The Court held, “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause.” The Court also found that the Virginia law deprived citizens of liberty without due process of law. “To deny this fundamental freedom [marriage] on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications …is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law.”

The case touched on constitutional principles including equality, federalism, and liberty.