Perez v. Lippold

by Melissa Theam, Hannah Waples, Joshua Penick, and John Bates

Perez V. LippoldCalifornia Supreme Court decision, Perez v. Lippold, 32 Cal. 2d 711, voided California's ban on interracial marriages on October 1, 1948, 19 years before the US Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia.

Petitioners seek to compel the County Clerk of Los Angeles County to issue a certificate of registry and license to marry.

● Andrea Perez, Caucasian & Sylvester Davis, African Am.

● Roman Catholic

Respondent refuses to issue the certificate and license

invoking Civ. code, sec. 69.

● Jerry Lippold, white

● Los Angeles County Clerk

Civil Code, Section 69“No license may be issued authorizing the marriage of a white person with a negro, mulatto, mongolian, or member of the malay race.”● Works in conjunction with Civ. Code, Sec. 60 which first appeared in 1872

● Originally prohibited marriage between whites and negroes or mulattos.

● Twice amended to include Mongolians and later, members of the Malay race.

Petitioners contend statutes are unconstitutional on the grounds that they prohibit the free exercise of their religion & deny them to participate fully in the elements of their religion.

● Petitioners maintain that since the church has no rule forbidding marriages between negroes and caucasians, they are entitled to receive the sacrament of matrimony.

Reasons used to support court decision California’s Civil Code sec. 60 & sec. 69 decided unconstitutional

states: “All marriages of white persons with negroes, mongolians, members of the Malay race, or mulattoes are illegal and void.”

cannot infringe on the right to participate fully in one’s religion

1st amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”

due process clause of the 14th amendment

marriage is a fundamental right

states possess the power to regulate marriage within their state only if it is conducted to protect society and is not unreasonably discriminatory

“Since the right to marry is the rights to join in marriage with the person of one’s choice, a statute that prohibits an individual from marrying a member of a race other than his own restricts the scope of his choice.”

-Associate Justice Roger Traynor

A few interesting facts about anti-miscegenation laws

The word “miscegenation,” a mashup of the Latin “miscere” (to mingle) and “genus”

(category), is a purely American invention. The term was coined during the Civil War

and appeared in a political pamphlet aimed at discrediting Abraham Lincoln and the

Republicans.

Maryland was the first state to enact an anti-miscegenation law – In 1664.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, 7 of the 13 colonies

actively banned interracial marriages. Pennsylvania was the first to repeal its anti-

miscegenation law, in 1780.

Significant points established by the court

decisionOverturned anti-miscegenation laws in the state of California

Paved the way for anti-miscegenation laws to be overturned in other states.

1967 Loving v. Virginia was the case that ended anti-miscegenation laws nationwide

Even after Loving prevented states from enforcing anti-miscegenation laws, such laws

technically remained on the books in some states. The last remaining state-law ban

on interracial marriages was a provision in the Alabama constitution, which was

repealed by referendum in 2000.

anti-miscegenation now

Perez v. Lippold’s impact on democracythe court’s decision greatly furthered democracy

it granted citizens of the United States the freedom to choose the individual they wanted to spend their life with, regardless of race

the anti miscegenation laws in California infringed on the right to practice religious freedom, so the ban on these laws ensured this freedom to all citizens

this freedom was a great advancement in the rights of black citizens and citizens in general, contributing to an overall advance in democracy

Works Cited"Freedom To Marry." Freedom to Marry. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

"Perez V. Lippold." Pc2d198a.pdf (n.d.): n. pag. Law.columbia.edu. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

"Stanford Law School - Robert Crown Law Library." Perez v. Sharp. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

"Supreme Court of California, in Bank." Perez v. Lippold (Cal. 1948). N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Moore, Elizabeth R. "Loving v. Virginia." Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Ed. David Bradley and Shelley Fisher Fishkin.

Vol. 2. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 1998. 548-549. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Aug. 2010.

"Miscegenation." MISCEGENATION (n.d.): n. pag. Www.tn.gov. Web.