Editing Hugo Black (section)

===1950s and beyond===
Vinson's tenure as chief justice coincided with the [[Second Red Scare]], a period of intense [[anti-communism]] in the United States. In several cases the Supreme Court considered, and upheld, the validity of anticommunist laws passed during this era. For example, in ''American Communications Association v. Douds'' (1950), the court upheld a law that required [[trade union|labor union]] officials to forswear membership in the [[Communist Party USA|Communist Party]]. Black dissented, claiming that the law violated the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]'s free speech clause. Similarly, in ''[[Dennis v. United States]]'', {{ussc|341|494|1951}}, the court upheld the [[Smith Act]], which made it a crime to "advocate, abet, advise, or teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States". The law was often used to prosecute individuals for joining the Communist Party. Black again dissented, writing:

<blockquote>Public opinion being what it now is, few will protest the conviction of these Communist petitioners. There is hope, however, that, in calmer times, when present pressures, passions and fears subside, this or some later Court will restore the First Amendment liberties to the high preferred place where they belong in a free society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=341&invol=494|title=FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions.|website=Findlaw|access-date=February 18, 2006|archive-date=February 6, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206223302/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=341&invol=494|url-status=live}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Beginning in the late 1940s, Black wrote decisions relating to the Establishment Clause, where he insisted on the strict [[separation of church and state]]. The most notable of these was ''[[Engel v. Vitale]]'' (1962), which declared state-sanctioned prayer in public schools unconstitutional. This provoked considerable opposition, especially in conservative circles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Engel/ |title=''Engel v. Vitale'' |publisher=Tourolaw.edu |access-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905035141/http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Engel/ |archive-date=September 5, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Efforts to restore school prayer by constitutional amendment failed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2021 |title='Hungry for a Spiritual Revival': The School Prayer Amendment and the Rise of the New Right |url=https://cafe.com/article/hungry-for-a-spiritual-revival-the-school-prayer-amendment-and-the-rise-of-the-new-right/ |access-date=April 20, 2022 |website=CAFE |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1953 Vinson died and was replaced by [[Earl Warren]]. While all members of the court were New Deal liberals, Black was part of the most liberal wing of the court, together with Warren, Douglas, [[William J. Brennan Jr.|William Brennan]], and [[Arthur Goldberg]]. They said the court had a role beyond that of Congress.<ref>Lucas A. Powe, ''The Warren Court and American Politics'' (2000)</ref> Yet while he often voted with them on the Warren Court, he occasionally took his own line on some key cases, most notably ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' (1965), which established that the Constitution protected a [[right to privacy]]. In not finding such a right implicit in the Constitution, Black wrote in his dissent that "Many good and able men have eloquently spoken and written{{nbsp}}... about the duty of this Court to keep the Constitution in tune with the times.{{nbsp}}... For myself, I must with all deference reject that philosophy."<ref name="Ball (2006)" />{{rp|120}}

Black's most prominent ideological opponent on the Warren Court was [[John Marshall Harlan II]], who replaced Justice Jackson in 1955. They disagreed on several issues, including the applicability of the Bill of Rights to the states, the scope of the due process clause, and the [[One man, one vote#United States|one man, one vote]] principle.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Black had a number of [[List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1)|law clerks who became notable in their own right]], including Judges [[Louis F. Oberdorfer]], [[Truman McGill Hobbs]], [[Guido Calabresi]], and [[Drayton Nabers Jr.]], Professors [[John K. McNulty]], [[Stephen Schulhofer]], and [[Walter E. Dellinger III]], Mayor [[David Vann (mayor)|David Vann]], FCC Commissioner [[Nicholas Johnson]], US solicitor general [[Lawrence G. Wallace]], and trial lawyer [[Stephen Susman]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/07/13/when-supreme-court-clerkships-become-a-family-tradition/|title=When Supreme Court Clerkships Become a Family Tradition|first1=Tony Mauro|last1=July 13|first2=2020 at 02:56{{nbsp}}pm {{pipe}} The original version of this story was published on The National Law|last2=Journal|website=National Law Journal|access-date=July 16, 2020|archive-date=July 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714184025/https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/07/13/when-supreme-court-clerkships-become-a-family-tradition/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/uploaded_pdf/ead_pdf_batch_27_December_2004/2001/ms001046.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301142140/http://memory.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/uploaded_pdf/ead_pdf_batch_27_December_2004/2001/ms001046.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>