(1886–1971), U.S. jurist. Born on Feb. 27, 1886, in Harlan, Ala., Hugo Black earned his law degree from the University of Alabama and was admitted to the bar in 1906. In 1926 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he served for ten years. In 1937 he was appointed associate justice of the United States Supreme Court by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He soon became known for his belief in the Bill of Rights as a guarantee of civil liberties. He retired in 1971.