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Perez v. Lippold (Sharp)

California Supreme Court

32 Cal. 2d 711, 198 P.2d 17 (1948)

Facts

Andrea Perez (plaintiff) was a white woman who wanted to marry Sylvester Davis, a Negro man. When Perez and Davis applied for a marriage license, the Los Angeles County clerk, Lippold (defendant), refused to give the couple a certificate of registry or a marriage license. The clerk took this action pursuant to California Civil Code §§ 60 and 69. Section 69 prohibited a marriage license from being issued to whites and Negroes, mulattoes, Mongolians, and Malays. Section 60 declared marriages between whites and the races listed above illegal and void. Perez filed a mandamus petition to require the clerk to issue the marriage license and the certificate of registry. Perez and Davis were Roman Catholic and pointed out that their church had no restriction preventing Caucasians from marrying Negroes. Perez and Davis argued that the Civil Code sections were unconstitutional because the regulations violated their rights to freedom of religion and to enjoy the sacrament of marriage.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Traynor, J.)

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Dissent (Shenk, J.)

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