Women were once excluded everywhere from the legal profession, but by the 1990s the
Virginia Supreme Court had three women among its seven justices. This is just one example of how law
in Virginia has been transformed over the past century, as it has across the South and throughout
the nation.In Blue Laws and Black Codes, Peter Wallenstein
shows that laws were often changed not through legislative action or constitutional amendment but by
citizens taking cases to state and federal courtrooms. Due largely to court rulings, for example,
stores in Virginia are no longer required by "blue laws" to close on
Sundays. Particularly notable was the abolition of segregation laws, modified
versions of southern states' "black codes" dating back to the era of slavery and the
first years after emancipation. Virginia's long road to racial equality under the law included
the efforts of black civil rights lawyers to end racial discrimination in the public schools, the
1960 Richmond sit-ins, a case against segregated courtrooms, and a court challenge to a law that
could imprison or exile an interracial couple for their marriage.While
emphasizing a single state, Blue Laws and Black Codes is framed in regional and
national contexts. Regarding blue laws, Virginia resembled most American states. Regarding racial
policy, Virginia was distinctly southern. Wallenstein shows how people pushed for changes in the
laws under which they live, love, work, vote, study, and shop--in Virginia, the South, and the
nation.