Loving V. Virginia Case Study

It's easy to get angry and/or violent protests confused with civil disobedience. Many overlook the effectiveness of civil disobedience and see it as just another way to protest the government but civil disobedience has a long history. A few examples of civil disobedience include Rosa Parks’ famous refusal to move from the back of the bus in 1955; the interracial marriage between Richard and Mildred Loving in 1958; and most recently, the protest against the Dakota Access pipeline construction. In each instance, people stood up for what they thought was just and right. One of the most famous examples of civil disobedience is Rosa Park’s refusal to sit in the back of the bus. An article on Newsuem.org named “Rosa Parks and Civil Disobedience”

In 1958, it was illegal for an interracial couple to get married in the state of Virginia. In the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case, Mildred Jeter, an African-Indian woman, and Richard Loving, a white man married in Washington DC due to the miscegenation law in Virginia. They later returned to their home state where the police charged them with the violation of Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law. The Loving’s were later approached by a lawyer who wanted to sue the state of Virginia for violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. By marrying and returning to Virginia, Mildred and Richard were breaking Virginia law, but they loved each other and knew they had to be together. Their marriage expanded the Equal Protection clause to include interracial marriage. The Loving v Virginia case not only strengthened Civil Rights, it also eventually served as a platform for the argument for same-sex marriage. In the article How the 'Loving' Case Changed the US, it states, “The Loving case has been repeatedly cited by supporters of gay marriage as one of the most substantive legal arguments for legalizing same-sex marriage in America.” The Loving’s own version of civil disobedience stretched farther than interracial couples and it has only made the US more tolerant and

Shailene Woodley is an actress and a social activist with many causes she is passionate about, including indigenous people, the environment, women’s rights as well as the LGBTQ community. Woodley was present in North Dakota during Dakota Access pipeline protest on October 10th, 2016. While protesting, Woodley was arrested for criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot. She was among 27 other people to be arrested that day. It is believed that she was actually arrested because of her live Facebook video that had over 40,000 people watching. In response to her arrest, many famous actors and actresses joined the fight supporting the indigenous American Indians against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Woodley’s actions have brought awareness to this issue and encouraged more people to stand up for the indigenous people of the