Pace v. Alabama was a United States Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of whether or not a state could criminalize consensual sexual relations between two adults of the same sex. The case was brought by Tony Pace and Mary Cox, two adults who had been convicted of violating an Alabama law that prohibited such relations. The Supreme Court held that the Alabama law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned that the law was not based on any rational basis, and that it was instead based on an irrational prejudice against same-sex relationships. The Court also noted that the law was not necessary to protect public health or morality, and that it was instead an attempt to enforce a particular moral code. The Court's decision in Pace v. Alabama was a landmark ruling that established the principle that states cannot criminalize consensual sexual relations between two adults of the same sex. The decision was a major victory for the LGBT community, and it helped to pave the way for the eventual legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States.

In the case of Pace v. Alabama, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state law that prohibited interracial marriage violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The majority opinion held that such laws were constitutional and did not violate any rights under federal law. However, Justice Harlan dissented from this decision and argued that these laws were unconstitutional because they discriminated against individuals on account of their race or color in violation of equal protection principles enshrined in both federal and state constitutions. He further argued that such laws denied individuals basic civil liberties by preventing them from entering into relationships with those whom they chose freely without regard for racial considerations. Ultimately, Justice Harlan's dissent was unsuccessful as his colleagues voted 6-1 to uphold Alabama's anti-miscegenation statute; however, his arguments laid important groundwork for future cases which ultimately led to Loving v Virginia (1967), where similar statutes were struck down as unconstitutional violations of due process and equal protection guarantees found within the Fourteenth Amendment.