An interracial couple married in Washington, D.C. with plans to return to their home state of Virginia, which strictly prohibited interracial marriages and did not allow any person of color to live with a white person as husband and wife. Mildred Jeter, who was black, and her husband Richard Loving, who was white, decided to return to their home state of Virginia in 1958. In October, they were charged with illegal cohabitation and immediately sent to prison. In the eyes of the courts, they violated Virginia Code 20-59 which stated: “Leave the state to escape the law.” -- If any white or colored person leaves this state, for the purpose of marrying, and with the intention of returning and marrying out of this country, and then returning and residing therein, cohabiting as husband and wife, they will be punished as provided in § 20-59, and the marriage will be governed by the same law as if it had taken place. been celebrated in this state. The fact of their cohabitation here as man and woman will constitute proof of their marriage." ("Loving ET UX v. Virginia") The couple was sentenced to one year in prison....