lawyer who took the loving case to the supreme court

by Kristoffer Ortiz 6 min read

Bernard S. Cohen

Full Answer

Who was the lawyer who represented the Lovings in court?

Hirschkop and another attorney, Bernard Cohen, represented the Lovings during their legal fight. It was a difficult time to be a black woman married to a white man. “It would have been much harder as a black man and white woman,” Hirschkop said. “They might have been hanged for that.”

What was the Supreme Court case Loving v Virginia?

The Loving V. Virginia Supreme Court Case. The Lovings began their legal battle in November 1963. With the aid of Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, two young ACLU lawyers, the couple filed a motion asking for Judge Bazile to vacate their conviction and set aside their sentences.

How did Mildred Loving get to the Supreme Court?

Wallenstein said Mildred Loving reportedly wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy pleading their case, and he directed her to the American Civil Liberties Union. A lawyer from the ACLU took the case, which made its way to the Supreme Court, where the law was unanimously overturned on June 12, 1967.

What was the significance of the Loving case?

The Loving case was a challenge to centuries of American laws banning miscegenation, i.e., any marriage or interbreeding among different races. Restrictions on miscegenation existed as early as the colonial era, and of the 50 U.S. states, all but nine had a law against the practice at some point in their history.

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Who argued against Loving v Virginia?

Bernard Cohen, who as a young lawyer successfully argued the Supreme Court case that struck down Virginia's ban on interracial marriages, has died at age 86. Cohen died Monday in Fredericksburg, Va. The cause was Parkinson's disease, his family told NPR.

Who played the lawyer in Loving?

In one scene, Bernie Cohen, portrayed by comedian Nick Kroll, [whose father is Georgetown Law-educated Jules Kroll, who founded the modern corporate security industry, first through Kroll, and now through K2 fame] agrees to meet with Richard and Mildred Loving at a local Washington, D.C. law office.

Did the Lovings go to jail?

Caroline County police arrested the Lovings in their home in an early morning raid and took them to jail. They were charged with marrying interracially out of state and then returning to reside in Virginia. "Miscegenation," a felony, carried a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Did the Lovings sue the state of Virginia?

Their marriage violated Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which criminalized marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as "colored". The Lovings appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which upheld it.

What did the Supreme Court rule in Loving v. Virginia?

Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) A unanimous Court struck down state laws banning marriage between individuals of different races, holding that these anti-miscegenation statutes violated both the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Did the Lovings divorce?

The Lovings remained married until 1975 when Richard was tragically killed when a drunk driver slammed into his car. Mildred never remarried and died in 2008 at the age of 69. The legacy of the Lovings continues today. The AP reports that 17% of newlyweds in 2015 were interracial marriages.

Who turned in Lovings?

Mildred and Richard LovingBornMildred Mildred Delores JeterJuly 22, 1939 Central Point, Virginia, U.S. Richard Richard Perry LovingOctober 29, 1933 Central Point, Virginia, U.S.DiedMildred May 2, 2008 (aged 68) Milford, Virginia, U.S. Richard June 29, 1975 (aged 41) Caroline County, Virginia, U.S.4 more rows

Who was the first interracial marriage?

Historical background. The first "interracial" marriage in what is today the United States was that of the woman today commonly known as Pocahontas, who married tobacco planter John Rolfe in 1614.

Who was Mildred loving's husband?

Mildred Loving and her husband Richard Loving in 1965. Bernard Cohen, who successfully challenged a Virginia law banning interracial marriage and later went on to a successful political career as a Virginia state legislator, has died at age 86.

Who was Bernard Cohen?

Bernard Cohen in a 1970s campaign poster when he ran for the Virginia House of Delegates. As a lawyer he successfully argued the Supreme Court case that established the legality of interracial marriage. He died this week at age 86.#N#Cohen family hide caption

How many years did Bernard Cohen attend Georgetown Law School?

He graduated from the City College of New York in 1956 with an economics degree, and from Georgetown Law School four years later.

What caused Bernard Cohen to die?

Cohen died Monday in Fredericksburg, Va. The cause was Parkinson's disease, his family told NPR.

Is interracial marriage legal in every state?

Interracial marriage was now legal in every state in the union. Rae Cohen, Bernard's wife of 61 years, remembers events that suggested not everyone in Alexandria was happy with her husband's role in the case. "There were a couple little incidents," she says. "We lived in a house that didn't have a garage.

What was the Supreme Court's unanimous opinion in Loving v. Virginia?

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9–0 decision that overturned the Lovings' Virginia criminal convictions and struck down anti-miscegenation laws that forbade marriage between people of different races.

What act did the lovings violate?

Their marriage violated Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which criminalized marriage between people classified as "white" and people classified as " colored ". The Lovings appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which upheld it.

What is the sentence for the lovings?

The Lovings were charged under Section 20-58 of the Virginia Code, which prohibited interracial couples from being married out of state and then returning to Virginia, and Section 20-59, which classified miscegenation as a felony, punishable by a prison sentence of between one and five years.

What is Pace v. Alabama?

Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), was a landmark civil rights decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Beginning in 2013, it was cited as precedent in U.S.

How many years apart were Loving v. Virginia and Lawrence v. Texas?

Board of Education in 1954 and Loving v. Virginia in 1967, respectively) were made about 13 years apart, much like the ruling holding bans on same-sex sexual activity unconstitutional and the eventual ruling holding bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional ( Lawrence v. Texas in 2003 and Obergefell v.

How many interracial marriages were there in Georgia in 1970?

In Georgia, for instance, the number of interracial marriages increased from 21 in 1967 to 115 in 1970. At the national level, 0.4% of marriages were interracial in 1960, 2.0% in 1980, 12% in 2013, and 16% in 2015, almost 50 years after Loving.

Which court of appeals upheld the same sex marriage ban?

The only Court of Appeals to uphold state bans on same-sex marriage, the Sixth Circuit , said that when the Loving decision discussed marriage it was referring only to marriage between persons of the opposite sex. In Obergefell v.

What amendment did loving v. Virginia take?

Supreme Court unanimously (9–0) struck down state antimiscegenation statutes in Virginia as unconstitutional under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Mildred and Richard Loving, 1958.

What amendment did the lovings fight for?

Having established residence in Washington, D.C., the Lovings filed suit in a Virginia state court in November 1963, seeking to overturn their convictions on the grounds that Sections 20-58 and 20-59 were inconsistent with the Fourteenth Amendment.

What did the lovings do in Virginia?

At a hearing in a Virginia state court in January 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty to having violated Section 20-58 of the Virginia state code, which prohibited a “white” person and a “colored” person from leaving the state to be married and returning to live as man and wife.

What is the Supreme Court?

Supreme Court of the United States, final court of appeal and final expositor of the Constitution of the United States. Within the framework of litigation, the Supreme Court marks the boundaries of authority between state and nation, state and state, and government and citizen.…

When did Richard Loving get married?

The case arose after Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a woman of mixed African American and Native American ancestry, traveled from their residences in Central Point, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to be married on June 2, 1958.

Which court ruled that the use of racial classifications to define the criminal offenses in question violated

Naim (1965), the appeals court ruled that, despite the statutes’ use of racial classifications to define the criminal offenses in question, neither statute violated the guarantee of equal protection of the laws because the penalties they imposed applied equally to both “white” and “colored” persons.

Who was the lawyer who started the loving case?

We know we can’t live there, but we would like to go back once and a while to visit our families and friends.”. Hirschkop started working on the Loving case by happenstance. In July 1964, Hirschkop was meeting with Chester Antieau, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University’s Law Center.

Who represented the lovings in the legal fight?

Their love story became legendary. Hirschkop and another attorney, Bernard Cohen, represented the Lovings during their legal fight. It was a difficult time to be a black woman married to a white man. “It would have been much harder as a black man and white woman,” Hirschkop said.

What was the case that led to the 1967 Supreme Court decision legalizing interracial marriages in Virginia and 15 other

Virginia, the case that led to the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing interracial marriages in Virginia and 15 other states. A film, “Loving,” which opened in theaters last month, tells the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, the mixed-race couple who were arrested in 1958 after they defied Virginia ’s miscegenation laws.

Where is the loving case file?

Hirschkop, who is still practicing law at 80, dropped the Loving case file on the desk in his home office overlooking the Potomac River in Lorton, Va. The manila folder contains original letters written by Mildred Loving, who died in 2008.

Who argued the case before the Supreme Court?

Hirschkop and Cohen argued the case before the Supreme Court on April 10, 1967. The highlight of the day, Hirschkop said, was taking a photo on the steps of the Supreme Court with his father, the man who had sparked his interest in justice at a young age. “That picture has been on my desk for 48 years,” Hirschkop said.

When did the Virginia Supreme Court rule that mixed race couples can marry?

On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in the case: Virginia could not longer prohibit mixed-race couples from marrying. The next day, the Lovings and their attorneys held a triumphant news conference in Alexandria, Va.

Did Richard loving go to the Supreme Court?

There’s a scene in the movie where the Lovings walk out of the Virginia State Supreme Court. “Well, that never happened,” Hirschkop said. “They never went to the state Supreme Court.”. Another scene, which depicts the lawyers visiting Richard Loving at the couple’s farmhouse, also “never happened,” Hirschkop said.

Who was Mildred loving married to?

FILE - This Jan. 26, 1965 file photo shows Mildred Loving and her husband Richard P Loving. Bernard S. Cohen, who successfully challenged a Virginia law banning interracial marriage and later went on to a successful political career as a state legislator, has died. He was 86. Cohen and legal colleague Phil Hirschkop represented Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and Black woman who were convicted of illegally cohabiting as man and wife and ordered to leave Virginia for 25 years (AP Photo, File)

What did Bernard Cohen die from?

Virginia ruling, which declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. Cohen died Monday of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Fredericksburg, said his son, Bennett Cohen. Bernard Cohen had a great sense of humor and liked to ride motorcycles and fly planes, his son said.

How did Richard loving die?

Richard Loving died in a car crash 1975. Mildred Loving died in 2008. Their story is chronicled in the 2016 movie " Loving" as well as the 2011 documentary "The Loving Story.". Get to know Ruth Negga: The Oscar-nominated breakout star of 'Loving'.

Who wrote the letter to Mildred loving?

Wallenstein said Mildred Loving reportedly wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy pleading their case, and he directed her to the American Civil Liberties Union. A lawyer from the ACLU took the case, which made its way to the Supreme Court, where the law was unanimously overturned on June 12, 1967.

What is the day of loving vs Virginia?

The day is named for the monumental case, Loving v. Virginia, and the interracial couple at its center, Richard and Mildred Loving. The 1967 Supreme Court decision struck down 16 state bans on interracial marriage as unconstitutional. "Over the long haul, it changes America," said Peter Wallenstein, author of "Race, Sex, ...

Why was Tanabe intrigued by the case?

He said he was intrigued by the case because of his own interracial heritage and made it the subject of his graduate thesis project. That project grew into Loving Day, a holiday Tanabe said is celebrated around the country and the world.

What happened to the sailor in the middle of the night?

They then returned home to Caroline County, Virginia, and not long after, they were awakened in the middle of the night by police man who informed them they were breaking the law . They were jailed on charges of unlawful cohabitation and offered a choice: Continue to serve jail time or leave Virginia for 25 years.

Was Mildred loving a hero?

Wallenstein described Mildred Loving as instrumental in getting the case overturned, but she never considered herself a hero. Study: When it comes to marriage, race and ethnicity matter less. “It wasn’t my doing,” she told the Associated Press in a rare interview in 2007. “It was God’s work.”.

What court did the lovings go to?

The Lovings' case went to the Supreme Court . Feeling empowered by the Civil Rights Movement, Mildred wrote to Robert F. Kennedy in 1963 asking for counsel. Kennedy referred her to the ACLU, and it was there that their case eventually went to the Supreme Court .

What was the significance of the Lovings ruling?

But for the Lovings, the ruling was simply the freedom to go home and to continue on with their lives, this time, loving without fear.

Why did the couple flee Virginia?

The couple had to flee Virginia to avoid prison time. In 1958, the couple was jolted out of their bed in the middle of the night and arrested by local Virginia police. Their crime: violating the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which forbid interracial marriage.

Where did the lovings get married?

Although the Lovings were legally married in Washington, D.C. , the state of Virginia, which the couple made their home in, was one of more than 20 states that made marriage between the races a crime. A local judge allowed the Lovings to flee the state to avoid prison time.

What is the significance of Richard and Mildred loving?

The Richard and Mildred Loving Story. The monumental love story of Richard and Mildred Loving resulted in the landmark Supreme Court case that wiped away the last segregation laws in America. The monumental love story of Richard and Mildred Loving resulted in the landmark Supreme Court case that wiped away the last segregation laws in America.

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Overview

Criminal proceedings

The Lovings were charged under Section 20-58 of the Virginia Code, which prohibited interracial couples from being married out of state and then returning to Virginia, and Section 20-59, which classified miscegenation as a felony, punishable by a prison sentence of between one and five years.
On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pled guilty to "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace an…

Background

Anti-miscegenation laws had been in place in certain states since colonial days. In the Reconstruction Era in 1865, the Black Codes across the seven states of the lower South made interracial marriage illegal. The new Republican legislatures in six states repealed the restrictive laws. By 1894, when the Democratic Party in the South returned to power, restrictions were reimposed.

Precedents

Before Loving v. Virginia, there had been several cases on the subject of interracial sexual relations. Within the state of Virginia, on October 3, 1878, in Kinney v. The Commonwealth, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that the marriage legalized in Washington, D.C. between Andrew Kinney, a black man, and Mahala Miller, a white woman, was "invalid" in Virginia. In the national case of P…

Supreme Court decision

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9–0 decision in favor of the Lovings that overturned their criminal convictions and struck down Virginia's anti-miscegenation law. The Court's opinion was written by chief justice Earl Warren, and all the justices joined it.
The Court first addressed whether Virginia's Racial Integrity Act violated the Fo…

Effects

Despite the Supreme Court's decision, anti-miscegenation laws remained on the books in several states, although the decision had made them unenforceable. State judges in Alabama continued to enforce its anti-miscegenation statute until 1970, when the Nixon administration obtained a ruling from a U.S. District Court in United States v. Brittain. In 2000, Alabama became the last state to adapt its laws to the Supreme Court's decision, when 60% of voters endorsed a constitutional a…

In popular culture

In the United States, June 12, the date of the decision, has become known as Loving Day, an annual unofficial celebration of interracial marriages. In 2014, Mildred Loving was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History". In 2017, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources dedicated a state historical marker, which tells the story of the Lovings, outside the Patrick …

External links

• Works related to Loving v. Virginia at Wikisource
• Text of Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) is available from: Cornell CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist Oyez (oral argument audio)
• A Groundbreaking Interracial Marriage; Loving v. Virginia at 40. ABC News interview with Mildre…