[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E592-E593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JUDGE DAMON J. KEITH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RASHIDA TLAIB

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2019

  Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to 
recognize the Honorable Judge Damon J. Keith for his leadership and 
tremendous contributions to the civil rights movement, and to honor his 
memory.
  Born on July 4th, 1922 in Detroit, Michigan--a fitting birth date for 
a man who upheld the rights so cherished by our nation--Damon Keith was 
the youngest of six children born to Annie and Perry Alexander, a Ford 
factory worker. Keith was a proud graduate of the Detroit Public School 
System, graduating with honors from Northwestern High School in 1939. 
Keith was the first of his family to attend college and from there he 
went on to serve in the military before graduating from Howard 
University Law School in 1949. Judge Keith returned to Detroit to begin 
his legal career, earning an LLM from Wayne State University.
  Damon Keith worked in his own private law practice until 1967 when he 
was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the U.S. District Court 
for the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Keith served as Chief Judge 
from 1975 to 1977 before he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to 
the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
  Judge Keith's career is distinguished by his tireless defense of the 
U.S. Constitution. He decided several important cases that advanced 
civil rights in the State of Michigan. His legacy in the civil rights 
movement includes deciding cases against segregating schools, 
employment and housing discrimination, and federal wiretapping 
policies. Key among these cases are a 1970 decision ordering 
desegregation of Pontiac schools, a 1971 ruling that Nixon and AG 
Mitchell violated the federal constitution by wiretapping students in 
Ann Arbor, and lastly a 2002 ruling that deportation hearings held in 
private are unconstitutional--an opinion in which he famously wrote, 
``Democracies die behind closed doors.'' He was also instrumental in 
upholding the rights of local workers across the state. In 1973, Judge 
Keith ordered Detroit Edison to pay $4 million to black employees who 
were victims of job discrimination and ordered the company to create an 
affirmative action program. He also ordered the union to pay $250,000 
for failing to protect their workers from discrimination. His tireless 
work and fight to advance the quality of life for all people are 
memories and values we will forever cherish and continue to uphold.
  It is a great privilege to recognize a gentleman who contributed so 
much of his life to fight for human rights and civil equality for human 
beings. This is in recognition of a great

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loss to our state and a tribute to Judge Keith's surviving family as we 
honor his legacy.

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