Mildred Loving wrote to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963, who referred the case to the ACLU. Lawyers Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop argued before the Supreme Court that Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws violated the 14th Amendment. The 1967 unanimous ruling struck down marriage bans in 16 states and later served as a legal precedent for landmark same-sex marriage cases like Lawrence v. Texas.