[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 77 (Thursday, May 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[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.

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