Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Keith, Damon
Damon Jerome Keith was a federal judge whose half-century career was filled with significant decisions. He was an active figure in the civic and civil rights arenas in Detroit.
Born in Detroit on July 4th, 1922, he graduated from Northwestern High School then attended a historically Black university, West Virginia State College, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in 1943. Following his service in the U.S. Army from 1943-1946, he went to Howard University School of Law, where he met future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, graduating in 1949. He received a Master of Laws in labor law at Wayne State University Law School in 1956.
Keith entered private practice with the African American law firm of Loomis, Jones, Piper & Colden.He was also an attorney in the Office of the Friend of the Court in Detroit, and served as co-chairman of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. In 1964 Keith decided to establish his own law firm, Keith, Conyers, Anderson, Brown & Wahls, the first Black law firm in Detroit to move into the predominantly white Guardian Building.
His tenure as federal judge began on October 12, 1967. Appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, he was approved by the Senate as judge of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, and was chief judge from 1975-1977.
As District Court Judge Keith had several significant cases, one a landmark decision against the federal Justice Department for illegal wiretapping, upholding the Fourth Amendment, which was reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Other important cases were: Davis v. School District of City of Pontiac, a school busing order; Stamps v. Detroit Edison Co., an employment discrimination case against Detroit Edison; and an affirmative action case, Baker v. City of Detroit, against the Detroit Police Department. All of Keith’s decisions sought to bring justice to the disenfranchised.
Ten years later Keith was confirmed as judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a position he held until his death, becoming senior judge in 1995. As Sixth Circuit Court Judge Keith handed down the decision in Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft in 2002, a First Amendment case against the Bush administration which was holding secret hearings to deport immigrants suspected of terrorism. From this decision came his famous statement, “Democracies die behind closed doors.”
Off the bench, in the early 1950s, Keith volunteered his services as attorney to Arthur Johnson, executive secretary of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, as the group sought to grow its membership. He remained a staunch supporter the rest of his life and received the Springarn Medal in 1974, “in tribute to his steadfast defense of constitutional principles.” He also campaigned tirelessly for Democratic Party candidates.
Several now prominent individuals were clerks for Keith, including Jennifer Granholm and Jocelyn Benson. Keith was married to Detroit physician, Dr. Rachel Boone, who died in 2007, and the couple had three daughters, Cecile, Debbie, and Gilda.
Keith’s more than half-century career was one of the longest in the federal court system. He died on April 28, 2019 at the age of 96. His papers are in the archives of the Walter P. Reuther library.
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