Who was Mildred Loving? Here, from People For the American Way:

5/6/08
Reflections on Mildred Jeter Loving, an American Hero, and the Importance of the Supreme Court
PFAW Foundation

by Judith E. Schaeffer, Legal Director, PFAW Foundation

A very heroic woman died yesterday. She probably never wanted to be a hero. She did want to be a wife, though. But back in Virginia in the late 1950s, when Mildred Jeter, a black woman, fell in love with Richard Loving, a white man, and they decided to marry, that was indeed a heroic act. Not only because of society's prejudices, but also because it was a crime -- a felony punishable by one to five years in prison. Virginia's law prohibiting interracial marriage wasn't some unenforced statute, either. Oh no, Virginia was quite serious about keeping the races from "mixing." The County Sheriff burst into the Lovings' home in the middle of the night, and Mildred and Richard were charged as criminals and prosecuted -- that's right -- prosecuted -- for having gotten married. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced to a year in prison. The trial judge, in a moment of magnanimity, made the Lovings an offer they couldn't refuse: he agreed to suspend their prison sentence for 25 years if they would just leave Virginia and not return for a quarter of a century.

As it turns out, there were 15 other states with similar laws. The Earl Warren court's decision to strike down those laws was unanimous, but my gawd that was in 1967, a mere 41 years ago!

And today I received an email on the subject from PFAW, as follows:

Yesterday was "Loving Day," the anniversary of the 1967 Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court decision that allowed interracial couples to marry in this country. Mildred Loving died this year, but I'm glad she lived long enough to see the child of an interracial marriage run for president.

It's proof of the profound influence of the Court, and the importance of a Constitution amended to reflect increasingly progressive and egalitarian values. This is a nation where once women couldn't vote, and black children couldn't go to school with white children. The changes demanded by the Constitution and enforced by the Supreme Court over the years led directly to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama making history.

Yesterday also brought a different kind of victory in the Supreme Court. By the narrowest of margins, 5-4, the Court rebuked President Bush and his quest for limitless power, and ruled that habeas corpus must apply to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

This is precisely what the Court should be doing: standing up to the abuse of power, guarding our civil rights and demanding justice. I'm grateful to all our members and supporters who signed our petitions and supported People For Foundation's amicus brief in the Guantanamo case. The case was won, by a single vote.

But I fear for the day when the balance on the Court shifts. Had there been one more Justice appointed by President Bush on the Court yesterday, the outcome would have been very different. That's why People For's 2008 Supreme Court campaign is so important. John McCain has promised the GOP that he will nominate exactly the kind of judges George W. Bush nominated. We can't let that happen.

No we cannot let that happen! A McCain victory in November would be a catastrophe on every level. I implore my fellow Hillary supporters not to allow that to happen. Vote for Obama, even if it hurts.