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Hayden Cooper Covington (January 19, 1911 – November 21, 1978) was legal counsel for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society during one of its most difficult periods in the mid-20th century. Hayden Covington has a record 37 victories in the United States Supreme Court, the most since the Judiciary Act of 1869 which fixed the Supreme Court of the United States to 9 Justices. He argued numerous cases before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Jehovah’s Witnesses in defense of their religious freedoms, winning most of them. In 1967, he famously defended then world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in his legal battle against the draft during the Vietnam War.
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Covington was born in East Texas, and reared on a farm near Dallas, Texas. His father was a Texas Ranger.
An able student, Covington worked his way through law school in San Antonio, successfully passing the Texas bar exam, with an impressively high score, one year before graduation. He was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1933.
Covington was attracted to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and impressed by the dedication and character of the members, defending several of them in Texas courts prior to formally joining the group himself. His first exposure to their teachings was through listening to the broadcast sermons of Watch Tower Society President Joseph F. Rutherford on radio station KTSA in San Antonio.
Word of Covington's successes in defending the Witnesses reached the New York headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he was asked by President Rutherford to join him in representing the Society on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was then invited to join headquarters staff as general counsel in 1939, succeeding Olin R. Moyle.
| “ | I suppose [Connecticut householders] had some right of religious freedom themselves, did they not? I suppose they have the right to be left alone and not to be attacked with these scurrilous denunciations of their most cherished faith. What have you to say to that? | ” |
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—United States Supreme Court |
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I say we are right !
When "Judge" Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Covington. Honoring Rutherford's deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the Watch Tower Society succeeding the newly elected President, Nathan H. Knorr, despite having been a Jehovah's Witnesses for only five years. Throughout most of its history, appointment to the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society, and thus by implication to the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been limited to those professing to be of the "anointed class" within the group; the "spirit begotten" sons of God who would "rule as Kings" in heaven with Christ. To date, the one exception has been Hayden C. Covington.[1] A subsequent policy change resulted in Covington's resignation from the Vice Presidency and departure from the board in 1945, although remaining on staff as legal counsel.[2][3]
In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history. During his tenure as the head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department, Covington is said to have presented 111 petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court; he won well above 80% of the 44 cases he brought before the Court. The cases dealt with issues ranging from compulsory flag-salute statutes, to street preaching, to door-to-door literature distribution. He eventually resigned as Head of the Watch Tower Society's Legal Department.
In its chapter on Covington, Great American lawyers: An Encyclopedia relates:
Covington reported one meeting in which he and Knorr met with President Harry Truman about a pardon for a Witness who had been convicted of evading the draft. Covington claimed that Truman cursed and claimed to have no use "for that SOB who didn't want to die for his country in time of war."[4]
That meeting apparently occurred on Friday, September 6, 1946. President Truman eventually did pardon 136 Jehovah's Witnesses who had been convicted in draft cases.[5] Later, on October 12, 1951, Truman reportedly accepted the offered Jehovah's Witnesses publication What Has Religion Done for Mankind?.[6]
Later in his career, in 1966 and 1967, Covington assisted prize-fighter Muhammad Ali in obtaining a draft exemption as a Muslim minister. What may have brought him to the attention of Muhammad Ali was his extensive experience with the U.S. Selective Service System and draft boards across the nation, where he had realized many successes while representing Jehovah's Witnesses. Covington sued Ali to recover $247,000 in legal fees.[7]