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[Page S2773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 199--HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JUDGE DAMON
JEROME KEITH
Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) submitted the following
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
S. Res. 199
Whereas Judge Damon Keith was born on July 4, 1922, in
Detroit, Michigan, and died at his home in Detroit, Michigan,
surrounded by family and loved ones, on April 28, 2019;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith received a bachelor of arts from
West Virginia State University, a juris doctor from Howard
University School of Law, and a master of laws from Wayne
State University Law School;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith served in the United States Army
from 1943 to 1946, when he was discharged as a sergeant;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith devoted his life to public
service and served more than 50 years on the Federal bench,
where he was a champion for civil rights and individual
liberties for all;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith served as one of the first
cochairmen of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission at its
inception in 1964, where he worked to oppose discrimination
and enforce equal protection under the law;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith was first nominated to the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in
1967 by President Lyndon Johnson and served as the District
Court's first African American chief judge from 1975 to 1977;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith became the sixth African American
to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit when he was nominated by President Jimmy Carter in
1977, and he served as senior judge on the court from May 1,
1995, until his passing;
Whereas, in a 1970 decision, Judge Damon Keith upheld the
civil rights of students in Pontiac, Michigan, when he
ordered a bus policy and new boundaries for schools in
Pontiac, Michigan, in order to end racial segregation;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith defended the protections
guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States when he held in United States v. Sinclair,
321 F. Supp. 1074 (E.D. Mich. 1971) that the United States
Government must obtain a warrant before beginning domestic
electronic surveillance, and that landmark decision was
unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States;
Whereas, in Garrett v. City of Hamtramck, 394 F. Supp. 1151
(E.D. Mich. 1975), Judge Damon Keith ruled against housing
discrimination and ordered the city of Hamtramck, Michigan,
to relocate approximately 500 African Americans who had been
displaced by federally supported urban renewal projects;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith worked throughout his career to
safeguard the civil liberties, civil rights, and voting
rights of all people of the United States while opposing
housing, employment, and racial discrimination;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith has received more than 40
honorary degrees as well as the Spingarn Medal from the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
the highest honor awarded by the organization for
distinguished achievement, and the Edward J. Devitt
Distinguished Service to Justice Award, the highest award
that can be bestowed on a member of the Federal judiciary;
Whereas Judge Damon Keith inspired generations of lawyers
that served under him as clerks and influenced the State of
Michigan for decades; and
Whereas Judge Damon Keith, who coined the phrase
``democracies die behind closed doors'', will be remembered
for his dedication to upholding the Constitution of the
United States and his commitment to justice: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate honors the life and legacy of
Judge Damon Jerome Keith and his dedication to upholding
civil rights.
____________________
