Hugo Black Jr

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Hugo Lafayette Black Jr (born April 29, 1922 in Birmingham; died July 22, 2013 in Pinecrest, Florida) was an attorney and legal scholar.

Black was the son of attorney Hugo Black and his wife, the former Josephine Foster. He attended the University of Alabama until he was drafted into the U.S. Army for stateside service in World War II.

After the war, Black returned to Tuscaloosa and completed his bachelor of arts in English in 1946. He earned his bachelor of law at Yale University in 1949, having served as president of the Yale Law School Student Association and on the board of editors of the Yale Law Journal.

Black was admitted to the Alabama State Bar and began his practice in Birmingham with a specialty in labor law. He married the former Bessie Graham Hobson and had three children: Elizabeth, Margaret and Hugo III.

As early as 1952 Black was considering a political career, but was discouraged by his father. The elder Black, now a Supreme Court justice, warned his son that Alabamians would soon develop a strong distaste for the federal government in general, and for him in particular.

The younger Black did receive threats in the wake of the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Fearing for his family, he moved to Pinecrest, Florida outside of Miami and co-founded the firm of Kelly, Black, Black & Kenny, where he remained for more than 30 years before returning to sole practice. He became a life member of the American Law Institute and a trustee of the 11th Circuit Court Historical Society and the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society.

Publications

  • Black, Hugo L., Jr (1975) My Father: A Remembrance. New York: Random House
  • Black, Hugo L., Jr (1984) The Opening Statement. Practising Law Institute
  • Black, Hugo L., Jr (1991) Florida Evidentiary Foundations. The Michie Company

References