Profile -- Week 4
Damon J. Keith
 Damon J. Keith is Senior Judge on the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Detroit. During his distinguished
career, he has served as a public servant, lawyer in private practice,
civil rights activist, and jurist. When he received the ABA's
Thurgood Marshall Award in 1997, he was lauded by Individual
Rights and Responsibilities Section Chair Leslie Harris:
"Judge Keith represents the best in the legal profession.
His work reflects incisive analysis of issues, principled application
of laws and the Constitution, passionate belief in the courts'
role in protecting civil rights, a commitment to community service
and, most significantly, an independence of mind to do what's
right that is at the core of professional responsibility. There
is no better role model today for lawyers and law students seeking
to work for equal justice."
Keith was born on July 4, 1922 in Detroit, the youngest of six
children and the only one to go to college. After graduating from
Northwestern High School in Detroit in 1939, he enrolled at West
Virginia State College. Upon graduating from college in 1943,
Keith was drafted into military service during World War II, serving
as an enlisted man in the then racially segregated U.S. Army.
This experience helped fuel his interest in studying and practicing
law as a means to address racial discrimination.
Attracted by its focus on civil rights law, Keith attended Howard
University School of Law in Washington, DC. After graduating in
1949, he returned to Detroit, studying for the bar exam while
employed as a janitor. Keith entered private practice in 1950.
Two years later, he became the first African American to work
as an enforcement attorney for the Friend of the Court in Wayne
County, Michigan, a public agency responsible for domestic relations
cases. Keith returned to private practice in 1956. Eight years
later he started his own firm, which eventually became known as
Keith, Conyers, Anderson, Brown & Wahls. The firm's partners were
actively involved in civil rights advocacy.
Beginning in the late 1950s, Keith was also active in community
service in Detroit. He was president of the Detroit Housing Commission
and chaired both the Michigan Civil Rights Commission and the
Civil Rights Committee of the Detroit Bar Association. He also
became the first African American to serve as a commissioner of
the State Bar of Michigan.
In 1967 President Lyndon Johnson nominated Keith to be a judge
on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
He served on the court for 10 years, the last two as chief judge.
In 1977 he was elevated to the federal appellate court, nominated
by President Jimmy Carter. Keith assumed senior status on the
court in 1995.
As a federal judge, Keith has been associated with many significant
court decisions. In United States v. Sinclair (321 F. Supp.
1074, 1971), he issued a landmark Fourth Amendment ruling prohibiting
U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell from authorizing electronic
surveillance of suspected domestic conspirators charged with destroying
government property without first obtaining warrants. In a test
of the limits of executive power, the case made its way to the
U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld what has become known
as "Keith's Case."
In August 2002, Keith wrote the opinion for a unanimous three-judge
federal appellate panel, which ruled that the Executive Branch's
conduct of secret deportation hearings of suspected terrorists
violated the First Amendment (Detroit News et al. v. Ashcroft):
"Democracies die behind closed doors. When government begins closing
doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging
to the people. Selective information is misinformation."
In 1987 Keith served as the National Chairman of the Judicial
Conference Committee on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the Commission on
the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in 1990. Keith has received
more than 35 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous awards. In
addition to the Thurgood Marshall Award, he also received the
Spirit of Excellence Award in 2001, presented by the ABA Commission
on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. In 1974 he received
the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, issued "in tribute to his steadfast
defense of constitutional principles." The American Judicature
Society selected Keith to receive the 1998 Edward J. Devitt Award
for outstanding contributions to the legal profession and society.
He became the first African American to receive this award.
In 1993 the Damon
J. Keith Law Collection was established at the Walter P. Reuther
Library at Wayne State University in Detroit. The collection is
an "archival resource devoted to the substantial historical accomplishment
of African-American lawyers and judges as well as the African-American
legal experience. "Memorializing Judge Keith's commitment to freedom
and justice for all," the collection was named in his honor. His
papers and records are housed in the collection.
Commenting on the legacy of the "legends" of African-American
legal history associated with Howard University Law School, Keith
has remarked, "They taught us that the Constitution was our best
hope; that equality would come through the law."
Photo Usage:
Permission to use the above photo was granted by Wayne State University/Damon
J. Keith Law Collection; photo credit: Tony Spiva.
Black History Month 2003
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