Hugo La Fayette Black (February 27, 1886-September 25, 1971) was an Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1937-71, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and a U.S. Senator from Alabama, 1927-37. He wrote in a 1962 decision:
<Indeed, as late as the time of the Revolutionary War, there were established churches in at least eight of the thirteen former colonies and established religions in at least four of the other five.> 1886HB001
In Everson v. Board of Education, 1947, Justice Hugo La Fayette Black commented:
<This court has previously recognized that the provisions of the First Amendment, in the drafting and adoption of which Madison and Jefferson played such leading roles, had the same objective and were intended to provide the same protection against governmental intrusions on religious liberty as the Virginia statute.> 1886HB002
In a departure from the early American practice of individual States having establishments of religion, Justice Hugo La Fayette Black creatively used the 14th Amendment in Everson v. Board of Education, 1947:
<The "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church, neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another.> 1886HB003
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1886HB001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Hugo La Fayette Black, 1962, in court a decision. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 73.
1886HB002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Hugo La Fayette Black, 1947, Everson v. Board of Education, 330, U.S. at 13 (1947). John Whitehead, The Rights of Religious Persons in Public Education (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), p. 43.
1886HB003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Hugo La Fayette Black, 1947, in the case of Everson v. Board of Education, 330, U.S. 1 at 15 (1947); referenced in the case of Engel v. Vitale, 370, 430, (1962). John Whitehead, The Rights of Religious Persons in Public Education (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), p. 43.p. 237.