[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 199 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 199

 A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Judge Damon Jerome Keith.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2019

   Mr. Peters (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Judge Damon Jerome Keith.

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.
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