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Perez v. Sharp

October 1 , 2008 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Perez v. Sharp decision, in which the California Supreme Court, in a 4-to-3 decision, became the first court in U.S. history to strike down race restrictions on marriage. The court said that the freedom to marry is precious and important, and declared that "the essence of the right to marry is the right to join in marriage with the person of one's choice."

Nearly twenty years later Loving v. Virginia, a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, ended racial inequality in marriage nationwide.

 

Read the Perez v. Sharp decision.

 

Learn more about the Loving v. Virginia decision.

 

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Read Evan Wolfson's analysis of the historical significance of Perez in his book, Why Marriage Matters, available in paperback:

It took until 1948 before any court in the country mustered the commitment to the constitutional mandate of equality for all and the courage to reject political and social pressure in order to strike down race discrimination in marriage. With its 4-3 decision in Perez v. Sharp, the California Supreme Court entered history as an example of a court’s willingness to stand up for justice in the case before it, without fear or favor, unswayed by those who urged it to “connive at infractions” of constitutional guarantees and the human dignity of a vulnerable minority. And in doing so, it set an example for the courts doing their job in Hawaii, Vermont, and Massachusetts half a century later, and immeasurably enriched our nation.

Each person seeking a license to marry the “wrong” kind of person, the justices said, “finds himself barred by law from marring the person of his choice and that person to him may be irreplaceable. Human beings are bereft of worth and dignity by a doctrine that would make them as interchangeable as trains.”  The courageous California Supreme Court decision in Perez marked the beginning of the end of race discrimination in marriage, much as the November 2003 decision of the Massachusetts high court, similarly 4-3, marks the beginning of the end of sex discrimination in marriage.

The Perez decision came a full 19 years before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned anti-miscegenation laws nationwide in the best-named case ever—Loving v. Virginia.  The Perez decision came before a right-wing campaign to amend the California constitution to block civil rights laws and tie the hands of so-called "activist judges," and before the U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting such efforts to subvert equality.  It also came before legislators in most states (including California) were willing to stand against discrimination and before the polls showed the public’s acceptance of equality in marriage or other civil rights.  But some state had to show leadership.  The California Supreme Court did not flinch; in the best tradition of American courts, it did its job, and history has upheld it.

— Evan Wolfson

 

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View a Map of States Banning Interracial Marriage in 1967
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What are our partner organizations saying?

 

CA NAACP's Amicus Brief
The California NAACP, through its amicus brief, wanted to clearly articulate its belief that the Perez decision is equally applicable to current restriction on marriage for same-sex couples. To do so, it sought the counsel of a well-respectedappellate attorney, Jon Eisenberg. The result was an amicus brief that juxtaposes the language in the 1948 Perez decision with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's historic 2003 decision in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, which ended that state's ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

 

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Links and Resources

Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) is an international association organizations dedicated to advocacy, education and collaboration on behalf the multiethnic, multiracial and transracial adoption community.

Mavin Foundation builds healthy communities that celebrate and empower mixed heritage people and families. Their projects explore the experiences of mixed heritage people, transracial adoptees, interracial relationships and multiracial families.

Multiethnic Education Program: MEP (CA) provides educators and families culturally competent resources and strategies for our increasingly diverse society.

 

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NEWS:

OPINION: Marriage Decision: Not Activism
The Recorder
March 21, 2008
After noting the milestone Perez v. Sharp decision by the California Supreme Court to be the first state to strike down race discrimination in marriage in 1948, Jon B. Eisenberg responds to various judges questions about the role of the court in the pending California Supreme Court case on marriage saying, “For the courts to decide such constitutional questions is not judicial activism — it is their job. And the time is now in the Marriage Cases — not 10 years from now, not a hundred years from now — because now is the time when the question has been properly put to the California Supreme Court.”

Around the Country, High Courts Follow California’s Lead
New York Times
March 11, 2008
The CA Supreme Court is the most influential state court in the nation, clearly making the outcome of the marriage equality case very important to the entire nation. At the marriage hearing, Chief Justice George quoted repeatedly from a 1948 decision of his court, Perez v. Sharp — the first state high court decision to strike down a law banning interracial marriage. Over the next two decades, the rest of the nation followed it, culminating in a similar ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 1967.

Interpreting a Landmark Ruling As Big Step Toward Marriage Equality
The Edge
March 6, 2008
When a New York appellate court ruled that out-of-state marriages between same-sex couples were legal there, it marked a major step in the establishing of marriage equality in this country. …[Many liken] gay couples outside of Massachusetts to interracial couples several decades ago whose marriage validity differed from state to state. In 1948, California was the first state to break down its ban on interracial couples for marriage. But it wasn’t until 1967 until the U.S. Supreme Court struck down provision in the remaining 13 states that still had laws on the books banning interracial couples from getting married.