Mr. Powers and Ms. Smith have both been genetically certified as members of the white race. They wish to have a child. They may not do so without violating the Act and thereby risking serious penalty. Geoffrey R. Stone is Provost of the University and the Harvey Kalven, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor, Law School and the College. The Mandatory Miscegenation Act was enacted by Congress after several years of public debate.
Petitioners argue that the Act violates the constitutional right of privacy.
Although we have given broad scope to the right of reproductive privacy, we have also recognized that the right is not unlimited. The case before us today poses a particularly vexing challenge. As President Muhammad noted when he signed the Mandatory Miscegenation Act, our nation has a long and troubled history of racism and racial strife. Slavery led to the Civil War which led to Jim Crow which led to segregation which led to economic and educational deprivation and urban isolation. Civil rights legislation, welfare legislation, voting legislation, affirmative action policies, anti-affirmative action policies, voluntary resegregation policies, redistributive policies, and reparations policies have not solved the problem.