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The Statutes

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Submitted By kenancarioti
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Assignment 2: The Statutes
Kenan W. Carioti
April 29, 2012
Strayer University
Professor Angela Smith
Constitutional & Administrative Law – PAD525

Abstract
This paper explores anti-miscegenation and two cases brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, Pace v. State of Alabama, 106 U.S. 583 (1883) and Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1(1967). This paper analyzes and evaluates each case independently along with comparing and contrasting both cases in regards to anti-miscegenation statutes.

Assignment 2: The Statutes Miscegenation is the marriage or cohabitation between a man and a woman of different races, in the United States this especially pertained between black and white persons (Dictionary.com, 2012). “Anit-miscegenation laws were laws that enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races. Such laws were first introduced in North America from the late seventeenth century onwards by several of the Thirteen Colonies, and subsequently by many US states and US territories and remained in force in many US states until 1967” (Wikipedia, 2012). In 1883 the case, Pace v. State of Alabama, on appeal, made its way to the U.S. Supreme court, where defendant insisted that the act under which he was indicted and convicted is in conflict with the concluding clause of the first section of the fourteenth amendment of the consitution, which declares that no state shall ‘deny to any person the equal protection of the laws’. In Novemeber of 1881, Tony Pace (a black man) and Mary J. Cox (a white woman) were indicted under Section 4189 of the Alabama Code, in a circuit court of Alabama, for living together in a state of adultery or fornication. Section 4189 of the Code declares that ‘if any white person and any negro, or the descendant of any negro to the third generation, inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation was a white person, intermarry or live in adultry or fornication with each other, each of them must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not less than two nor more than seven years.’ Pace and Cox were tried, convicted, and sentenced, each to two years’ imprisonment in the state penetentiary (Pace v. State, 106 U.S. 583 (1883)). The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the conviction of Pace and Cox, ruling that the law was not discriminatory because:
Whatever discrimination is made in the punishment prescribed in the section is directed against the offense designated and not against the person of any particular color or race. The punishment of each offending person, whether white or black, is the same (About.com, 2012).

In June 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a negro woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia pursuant to its laws. Shortly after their marriage, the Lovings returned to Virginia to their home in Caroline County. In October of 1958, a grand jury in the Circuit Court of Caroline County issued an indictment charging the Lovings with violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages. On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the charge and were sentenced to one year in jail, however, the trial judge suspended the sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition that the Lovings leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25 years. After multiple appeals their case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967). Where the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that the convictions be overturned. Mr. Chief Justice Warren delivered the opinion of the court: the statutes of Virginia deprive the Lovings of liberty without due process of process of law in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in Virginia’s statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the fourteenth amendment, is surely to deprive all State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State (Loving v. Virinia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967)). In the case of Pace v. State (1883) the ruling was held to be constitutional because both parties, white and black, received the same punishment for the offense so there was no discrimination. However, in the case of Loving v. Virginia (1967) the ruling was held to be un-constitutional for states to deny a fundamental freedom granted by the fourteenth amendment on a basis of racial classifications, and that the fourteenth amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by incidious racial descriminations. The U.S. Supreme Court finding Loving v. Virginia (1967) unconstitutional overturned Pace v. State (1883) thereby ending all race based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. Throughout American history it is evident where whites imposed restrictions on the freedom of blacks through racial segregation, these barriers against desegregation fell under the pressure of the emerging civil rights movement. Victories of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ensured the fall of segregation in the army, in education, and in basic public services. Anit-miscegenation could have influenced Brown v. Board of Education (1954) under the same pretence of Pace v. State (1883) that although schools were segregated by race, both races received an equal education. Therefore, there was no discrimination against either race. The Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision had an outstanding influence on desegregation of schools and was a milestone in the movement for equality. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court's decision was unanimous, ruling that "separate but equal is inherently unequal." They ruled that no state had the power to pass a law that went against the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. In finding the case of Loving v. Virginia (1967) un-constitutional the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. This is a significant statute to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), in that DOMA should be found un-constitutional because it is restricting and infringing on an individuals choice and freedom of who to marry or not marry. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted September 21, 1996, is a United States federal law that defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman. Under the law, no state or other political subdivision of the U.S. may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state. Section 3 of DOMA codifies the non-recognition of same-sex marriage for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, Social Security survivors' benefits, and the filing of joint tax returns. Anti-miscegenation and its sbusequent rulings along with the Civil Liberties Act provide a firm footing for interpreting descrimination, especially racial descrimination. However, as the veiws of the American people become more understanding and excepting so should our laws. Government has no place and no right to inforce restrictions or undue burdens in a persons decision of love, marriage, family, etc.

References
About.com, 2012, retrieved from http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/p/pace_v_alabama.htm
Dictionary.com, 2012, retreived from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/miscegenation
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) retrieved from http://laws.findlaw.com/us/388/1.html
Pace v. State, 106, U.S. 583 (1883) retrieved from http://laws.findlaw.com/us/106/583.html
Wikipedia, 27 April, 2012, retreived from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-miscegenation_laws

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