Virginia Supreme Court upholds Racial Integrity Act, forcing Lovings to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court

The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled on March 7, 1966 that the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was constitutional, relying on its own 1955 precedent in Naim v. Naim and rejecting the ACLU's equal protection and due process arguments. The court held that the state had a legitimate interest in preventing interracial marriages and that the law's equal application to both races — both white and Black persons were equally prohibited from intermarrying — satisfied the 14th Amendment's equal protection requirement. ACLU attorneys Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop immediately petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari, which was granted April 10, 1967.