Bernard Cohen, Lawyer Who Represented Lovings in Landmark Marriage Case, Dies at 86

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Bernard Cohen, Lawyer Who Represented Lovings in Landmark Marriage Case, Dies at 86

By Matthew Barakat • Published 2 hours ago • Updated 20 mins ago

Bernard S. Cohen, who won a landmark case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of laws forbidding interracial marriage and later went on to a successful political career as a state legislator, has died. He was 86.

Cohen and legal colleague Phil Hirschkop represented Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and Black woman who were convicted in Virginia in 1959 of illegally cohabiting as man and wife and ordered to leave the state for 25 years.

Cohen and Hirschkop represented the Lovings as they sought to have their conviction overturned. It resulted in the Supreme Court's unanimous 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling, which declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

Cohen died Monday of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Fredericksburg, said his son, Bennett Cohen.

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Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/bernard-cohen-lawyer-who-represented-lovings-in-landmark-marriage-case-dies-at-86/2444387/

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I didn't realize he was so young when he took on the Loving case

‘An unabashed liberal’

The world needs more like Mr. Cohen.

[elleng]

2. Quite young, and inexperienced!

(My 'info' comes from seeing the movie Loving MANY times.)

[Karadeniz]

3. Thank you for your service in helping create a more perfect union... we're indebted to you.