Hugo LaFayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American judge and politician. He was from Ashland, Alabama and studied law at the University of Alabama. Black was poor as a child and lived simply for most of his life. Black was in the Army during World War I. In the 1920s, Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Black was a member of the U.S. Senate from Alabama from 1927 to 1936 as a Democrat. Black was a strong supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt for President. In 1937, Roosevelt put Black on the United States Supreme Court. Black supported many New Deal organizations while on the Court. Black often believed in interpreting the Constitution exactly as it was written (textualism). He also believed that the Fourteenth Amendment applies to states as well as the federal government. He voted against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Black was the fifth longest-serving justice in American history. He served on the Court for 35 years. Black died of a stroke in 1971. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
References[change | change source]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hugo Black|
- Ball, Howard (2006). Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. pp. 16, 50.
- "A Life of Justice: 'Hugo Black of Alabama'". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4828849. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- "Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court". StreetLaw. http://www.streetlaw.org//en/Page.Landmark.Brown.decision.summary.aspx. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- Cass R. Sunstein (2004-05-03). "Did Brown Matter?". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/03/040503crbo_books. Retrieved 2010-01-22.