In June 1967, a white man named Richard Loving and an African American woman named Mildred Jeter married in Washington DC and then returned to the small town of Central Point, Virginia. After returning to Virginia, they were dragged out of bed at night, tied up, dragged, and sentenced to a year in prison. In October 1958, a Caroline County Circuit Court grand jury indicted the Lovings for their interracial marriage because it went against state law. In section 257 of the Code of Virginia it states that all marriages between a white person and a black person are annulled without a decree of divorce or other legal proceeding ("Loving v. Virginia." LII). The Lovings and their attorney, Bernard S. Cohen, then took their case to the Supreme Court which ruled unanimously by 8-0 that the Code of Virginia was unconstitutional because it ran counter to the 14th Amendment (Covitz 165 ). In the case of Loving v. Virginia, Virginia's law preventing interracial marriage was overturned by the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. One of the main reasons for the Supreme Court ruling was the due process clause in the 14th Amendment. The right to marry has been considered one of the essential rights of a free man in the pursuit of happiness and it does not matter what race he marries ("Loving v. Virginia 1967." Supreme 601-06). As Chief Justice Warren stated, “no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (“Loving v. Virginia.” LII). The United States Constitution allows the right to marry, including the choice an individual has to choose a partner, and the state cannot interfere. Denying this basic freedom just because of race deprives all citizens of the State…half of the paper…the Institute. Cornell University, n.d. Web. March 31, 2014. “Loving v. Virginia (1967).” Civil rights in the United States. Ed. Waldo E. Martin, Jr. and Patricia Sullivan. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Page no. US history in context. Network. March 31, 2014. "Loving v. Virginia 1967." Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America. Ed. A. Walton Litz, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., Elizabeth Shaw and Richard Clay Hanes. vol. 3: Affirmative action/Assisted suicide and the right to die/Civil rights and equal protection/Gender discrimination/Reproductive rights/Immigrant, gay and disability rights/Rights to vote. Detroit: UXL, 2001. 601-06. Storm power research. Network. March 31, 2014. "Loving v. Virginia." Law2.University of Missouri-KansasCity. Np, nd Web. 08 Apr. 2014. “Loving v. Virginia.” LII/Institute of Legal Information. Cornell University, nd Web. March 31. 2014.