Hugo Black

Hugo LaFayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1937 - 1971). He is noted for his advocacy of a "literal" reading of the United States Constitution, and for his advocacy of the position that the guarantees of liberties in the U.S. Bill of Rights were imposed on the states via their incorporation in the Fourteenth Amendment. His jurisprudence has been the focus of much discussion. Because of his insistence on a strict textual analysis of Constitutional issues, as opposed to the process-oriented jurisprudence of many of his colleagues, it is difficult to characterize Black as a "liberal" or a "conservative" as those terms are generally understood. Yet his theory of "incorporation" often translated into support for strengthening civil liberties. In the 1920's, Black (like Chief Justice Edward Douglass White) was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and in 1921 he defended Klansmen accused of the murder of priest James Coyle. However, he later publicly disavowed the Klan, and his record on the Supreme Court bench contained some indications of support for the Civil Rights Movement.

US Supreme Court Justice

Black was nominated by President Roosevelt to the Supreme Court in 1937 to replace Justice Willis Van Devanter. His nomination aroused controversy due to his previous affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan. However, he was confirmed by the Senate and was sworn in on August 19, 1937.

Related Topics:
Supreme Court - Willis Van Devanter - August 19 - 1937

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In the summer following his confirmation, the KKK controversy was rekindled due to a report by an investigative journalist. Public opinion was inflamed, and Black was obliged to deliver a radio address in which he disavowed the Klan and stated that he was not racist, anti-Semitic, or anti-Catholic.

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On the bench Justice Black began to arouse interest by filing a continuing series of lengthy dissenting opinions. He quickly established a record favoring civil rights in some cases while opposing them in others. In 1940 Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court in Chambers v. Florida, 309 US 227, which ruled in favor of four African-Americans who had been coerced by the police into making confessions to murder. In 1948 he joined in the Court's decision in Shelley v. Kraemer which invalidated judicial enforcement of a racial restriction on the sale of land. In 1954 he joined the unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education which proclaimed the end of de jure racial segregation in US public schools, causing him to be burnt in effigy by segregationists in his home state.

Related Topics:
1940 - Chambers v. Florida - 1948 - Shelley v. Kraemer - 1954 - Brown v. Board of Education

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In contrast, Black authored the court's majority opinion in Korematsu v. United States, which legalized the race-based internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Related Topics:
Korematsu v. United States - World War II

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