born Feb. 27, 1886, Clay county, Ala., U.S.
died Sept. 25, 1971, Bethesda, Md.
U.S. Supreme Court justice (193771).
After practicing law in Alabama from 1906, he served in the U.S. Senate (192737), where he was a strong supporter of the New Deal . Pres. Franklin Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States , where he helped reverse earlier court decisions against New Deal legislation. In the 1960s he was prominent in the liberal majority that struck down mandatory school prayer and guaranteed the availability of legal counsel to suspected criminals. He became best known for his absolutist belief in the Bill of Rights as a guarantee of civil liberties. His last major opinion supported the right of the New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers (1971).