- Collection:
- Civil Case Files (U.S. District Court for the Richmond Division of the Eastern District of Virginia)
- Title:
- No. 4138 (Civil Action) Richard Perry Loving, et ux. v. the Commonwealth of Virginia, et al.
- Creator:
- United States. District Court (Virginia : Eastern District : Richmond Division)
- Date of Original:
- 1958/1967
- Subject:
- Marriage
Marriage law
Civil rights
Class actions (Civil procedure)
Discrimination
Minorities
African Americans
Discrimination - People:
- Loving, Richard Perry--Trials, litigation, etc.
- Location:
- United States, Virginia, Caroline County, 38.02682, -77.34696
United States, Virginia, City of Richmond, 37.55376, -77.46026 - Medium:
- civil court records
- Type:
- Text
- Description:
- This is the case file for the civil action "Richard Perry Loving and Mildred Jeter Loving, Individually and as representatives of a class composed of themselves and all Negro, white and other residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia, similarly situated, v. the Commonwealth of Virginia; and Robert Y. Button, Individually and as Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia; and J. Peyton Farmer, Individually and as Commonwealth Attorney of Caroline County, Commonwealth of Virginia; and the Honorable Leon Bazile, Individually and as Judge of the Circuit Court of Caroline County, Commonwealth of Virginia; and Garnett Brooks, Individually and as Sheriff of Caroline County, Commonwealth of Virginia." In 1958, the Lovings, an interracial couple, left Virginia to be legally married in the District of Columbia, then returned to Virginia to live as husband and wife. Shortly afterward they were indicted, tried, and convicted of violating sections of the Code of Virginia. In this civil action, heard by a three-judge Federal District Court, the Lovings sued the state and county officials who acted against them, asking the Court to declare the relevant sections of Virginia Code unconstitutional. The Court ordered that further hearing of the suit wait until the issue was decided in Virginia state courts, stating that the plaintiffs could return to the District Court to have their case heard if the state courts could not decide the issue. This District Court case was dismissed in 1967 when the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1.
This case was tried from 1964 to 1967, but includes records from as early as 1958 that were filed with the court during trial. - Local Identifier:
- 17410574
PH-885 - Metadata URL:
- https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=*:*&f.ancestorNaIds=17410574&sort=naIdSort%20asc&tabType=online
- Language:
- eng
- Original Collection:
- Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, Civil Case Files, 1938 - 12/31/1998
- Contributing Institution:
- United States. National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives at Philadelphia
- Rights:
-
