Mr. Justice Black and His Critics

Book excerpt: Many jurists give lip service to the idea that judicial interpretation of constitutional provisions should be based on the intent of the framers. Few, if any, have been as faithful to that conception as Hugo Black, a U.S. Senator from Alabama. Once on the court, he played a leading role in establishing freedom of speech and other guarantees the interpretation he (and others) believed were warranted by the language and intent of the framers. Late in his career, however, Black's commitment to literalism and intent led him to assume apparently conservative positions in civil liberties cases. The author analyzes Black's judicial and constitutional philosophy, as well as his approach to specific cases, through the eyes of Black's critics and through an assessment of scholarly opinion of his jurisprudence. -- from book jacket.