The Loving Story, Part 1 — Movies for Lawyers — The Act Of Communication Point Of View

From Katherine:

You know how much I love documentaries about The Law. If you are smart, you will find a way RIGHT NOW to see The Loving Story. If you are brilliant, you will find a way that once you see it, that you make sure others see it, too.

The story of how Richard and Mildred Loving started out life together as two people who simply loved one another and married one another and ended up as the subjects of a U.S. Supreme Court is the provocative subject. The amazing filmmakers, Nancy Buirski and Elisabeth Haviland James have taken footage of the time (1957-1965) as well as commentary from the major players looking back in time and woven it into a love song to law, justice and civil rights. They simply say, “Our documentary film tells the dramatic story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1950s, and their landmark Supreme Court Case, Loving v. Virginia, that changed history.”

I don’t think a lawyer can watch this film and not be deeply affected by it. The footage of the two young ACLU attorneys who tried the case and took it all the way to the Supreme Court brought me to tears. It reminded me of how, every day, I get to sit in rooms with attorneys who are doing their best to get justice for their clients without the benefit of hindsight. I was also especially moved by Richard and Mildred Loving. I kept wanting to reach back in time and help Richard Loving express himself – but – in the end his expression was just right. “Tell the court that I love my wife,” he said to his lawyers when they asked if he had anything that he wanted them to tell the U.S. Supreme Court.

A wonderful young attorney, Courtney Morgan, wrote an amazing piece about the impact that this film had on her. We are going to reprint it next week as Part 2 of this blog post on this most important film.

TIP: Is the case you are working on the case of a lifetime? Your client thinks so.

Movies For Lawyers