Which case struck down laws banning interracial marriage?

• A. Buckley v. Valeo
• B. Kelo v. City of New London
• C. Loving v. Virginia
• D. Schenck v. United States

Answer: (C)

The idea here is that marriage is a fundamental liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, so laws that ban interracial marriage run into two powerful protections: due process and equal protection. In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court struck down state anti-miscegenation statutes by saying that the freedom to marry is a basic civil right essential to personal liberty, and racial classifications in laws prohibiting marriage have no legitimate purpose. Because such classifications deny people the equal protection of the laws and intrude on a fundamental right, they cannot stand under strict scrutiny. The decision effectively invalidated interracial marriage bans across the United States.

Other cases mentioned address very different issues—campaign finance, eminent domain, and free speech during wartime—so they don’t involve marriage rights or the constitutional protections at stake in Loving v. Virginia.