Loving v. Virginia was a landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional. The case centered around Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a Black woman, who were legally married in 1958 in Washington, D.C. Despite their marriage being legal in the District of Columbia, when they returned to their home state of Virginia, they were arrested under Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws.

The Lovings pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to one year in prison, but the judge suspended their sentence on the condition that they leave Virginia and not return together for 25 years. The Lovings then challenged the constitutionality of the state's anti-miscegenation laws, arguing that they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In a unanimous decision in 1967, the Supreme Court struck down the Virginia law and all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States, declaring that marriage is a fundamental right and that restrictions based on race were a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The case was a major victory for civil rights and played a significant role in advancing the rights of interracial couples in America.