SUMMARY BIOGRAPHY THE HONORABLE DAMON J. KEITH

       Damon J. Keith was born in Detroit, Michigan, and has served as a United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Circuit since 1977.  Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Keith served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  Judge Keith is a graduate of West Virginia State College (B.A. 1943), Howard University Law School (J.D. 1949), where he was elected Chief Justice of the Court of Peers, and Wayne State University Law School (LL.M. 1956).

Judge Damon J. Keith: Equal Justice Before The Law.
Feb, 12 2007

            As a member of the federal judiciary, Judge Keith has consistently been a courageous defender of the constitutional and civil rights of all people.  He is heralded in Joseph Goulden’s The Benchwarmers as a “prime example of an independent federal judge” who “had the courage to say ‘no’” in the face of a president who believes he is sovereign.  “The strength of the judiciary,” Goulden wrote, “is rooted in just such independence as that displayed by Keith.”

            Judge Keith’s best known decision, United States v. Sinclair, is referred to as the Keith Decision.  The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Judge Keith’s decision in that case, which prohibited President Nixon and the federal government from engaging in warrantless wiretapping because it was in violation of the Fourth Amendment.  In the 1973 decision, Stamps v. Detroit Edison Co., Judge Keith ruled that the Detroit Edison Company had practiced systematic racial discrimination, resulting in a fine to the company of $4 million and to the employee union of $250,000, and an order that the company institute an aggressive affirmative action program.

            More recently, Judge Keith, sitting on the United States Court of Appeals, in Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, stood up to President George W. Bush, during the aftermath of 9/11, holding that it was unlawful for the Bush administration to conduct deportation hearings in secret whenever the government asserted that the people involved might be linked to terrorism.  According to New York Times columnist, Bob Herbert, in his September 2, 2002 op-ed entitled Secrecy is Our Enemy, “Judge Keith’s opinion was forceful and frequently eloquent.”  His opinion proclaims that “Democracies die behind closed doors.”  Judge Keith  reminds us, notes Herbert, that “the First Amendment and a free press protect the people’s right to know that their government is acting fairly and lawfully.  When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people.  Selective information is misinformation.” (quoting Judge Keith).  Rhetorically, Herbert asks, “If you want an American hero? A real hero?,” and answers, “I nominate Judge Damon J. Keith.”               In 1985, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger appointed Judge Keith as Chairman of the Bicentennial of the Constitution Committee for the Sixth Circuit.  Then, in 1987, Judge Keith was appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist to serve as the National Chairman of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Bicentennial of the Constitution.  In 1990, President George Bush appointed him to the Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution.  In recognition of  Judge Keith’s service to the Bicentennial Committee, more than 300 Bill of Rights plaques commemorating this important constitutional anniversary bear Judge Keith’s name and adorn the walls of courthouses and law schools throughout the United States and U.S. territories, as well as the FBI Headquarters and the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Center in Washington, D.C.

            In 1993, Wayne State University Professor Emeritus, Edward J. Littlejohn, approached Judge Keith about creating a collection of photographs, personal papers, legal memoranda, and memorabilia from African-American lawyers and judges.  This was the beginning of the Damon J. Keith Collection of African-American Legal History, which is the first and only collection of its kind.  Wayne State University Law School continued with a series of projects honoring Judge Keith, including a proposed $16.5 million addition to the school called the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights (“Keith Center”), the funding of the Damon J. Keith Chair in Civil Rights, and the further development of the Damon J. Keith Collection of African-American Legal History, which will have its permanent residence at the Keith Center.

            Judge Keith has received over 40 honorary degrees from many colleges and universities. In 1974, the Detroit Board of Education dedicated one of its primary schools in his honor, naming it The Damon J. Keith Elementary School.  Judge Keith is also a recipient of numerous awards, most notably:  the NAACP’s highest award, the Spingarn Medal (past recipients include the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, Mrs. Rosa Parks, and General Colin Powell).  Judge Keith was named the 1997 recipient of the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award, was given the Distinguished Public Service Award from the National Anti-Defamation League, and was selected to receive the Detroit Urban League’s 1998 Distinguished Warrior Award.

            In 1998, Judge Damon J. Keith was the recipient of the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.  The recipient of the Devitt Award is selected each year by a panel comprised of a United States Supreme Court justice, a federal circuit judge, and a federal district court judge, and honors the recipient as an outstanding federal judge of national stature.  Upon Judge Keith’s selection for the award, United States Court of Appeals Judge Peter Fay remarked:  “One cannot be around Damon for very long without sensing his commitment to all that is good about our country.  But, unlike many, he does not limit his commitment to words – his actions speak volumes.  He gets involved.  He spends the time.  He does the work.  Yes, he gets his hands ‘dirty’ because there is nothing he will not do if he is convinced it will help others and strengthen our way of life.”

            In January 2000, Turner Broadcasting Systems presented Judge Keith the Pinnacle Award at the Eighth Annual Trumpet Awards in Atlanta.  In February 2000, Judge Keith’s career was profiled by Court TV as part of a program honoring “America’s Great Legal Minds” in honor of Black History Month.  The National Urban League also gave him their highest honor, the Whitney Young Award, at their National Conference in July 2004.

            As a community leader, Judge Keith organized local business men to provide housing for Mrs. Rosa Parks, after she was robbed and physically assaulted in her house.  In 2004, Judge Keith was again responsible for organizing members of Detroit’s African-American business community, this time to save the city’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History from bankruptcy.

            In 2005, Judge Keith was honored to be co-chair for the National Victory Celebration for the Farewell to Mrs. Rosa Parks, organizing the home going services for Mrs. Parks across the country.  He accompanied her body, as she was honored in Montgomery, Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, Michigan.  Judge Keith, who presented Mrs. Parks with the Spingarn Award, the NAACP’s highest award, in Louisville, Kentucky in 1979, reflects that “Mother Parks represents everything that my legal and judicial career has stood for.  It was an honor to celebrate her life with the rest of the world.”

            In Judge Keith’s continuing commitment to develop and mentor aspiring lawyers and judges, he advises:

            Hard work, absolute honesty and integrity, and being kind and considerate to your colleagues are the most important attributes of a good attorney or judge.  Having faith in God and remembering to serve your fellow man, however, are indispensable to being a complete and good human being.