By John Minnis
Legal News
With just the right mixture of humor and admiration, keynote speaker U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. set the tone at the groundbreaking of The Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights on Monday, May 17, adjacent to the Wayne State University Law School.
"I didn't exactly have a choice being here today," Holder said. "When (Judge Keith) asks, you do it. The truth is, there is no place I'd rather be."
Holder was among hundreds of dignitaries, elected officials, judges, lawyers and law school students and faculty who attended the groundbreaking of the building named in honor of the highly respected and well-liked Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge for whom the new civil rights center will be named.
"My hope is that The Damon J. Keith Center embodies the four words on the U.S. Supreme Court building," Keith said. "I hold these words -- Equal Justice Under Law -- close to me and have had them guide me for 40 years and hope they will guide The Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights."
Keith grew up in Detroit and graduated from Northwestern High School in 1939. He earned a B.A. at Virginia State College in 1943, a J.D. at Howard University Law School in 1949 and a LL.M. at Wayne State University Law School in 1956.
In 1964, Keith was elected co-chair of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission with John Feikens, now a U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, and was influential following the Detroit race riots in 1967.
That same year, President Lyndon Johnson nominated Keith to the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, where he rose to chief judge. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter nominated Keith to the Sixth Circuit, where he still serves as senior judge.
Judge Keith has been a consistent defender of the constitutional and civil rights of all people. He fought systematic racial discrimination at Detroit Edison and school segregation in Pontiac. He took on President Richard Nixon, forbidding warrantless wiretapping and, in the aftermath of 9/11, challenged President George W. Bush, ruling secret deportation hearings for terrorism suspects illegal. In the court's unanimous opinion, Keith wrote of Bush's secret hearings, "Democracies die behind closed doors."
As a community leader, Judge Keith organized local businessmen to provide housing for Rosa Parks after she was robbed and assaulted in her home. In 2004, Keith again rallied Detroit's African-American business community to save the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History from bankruptcy.
Keith has received over 40 honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the country, including an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 2008.
"Today is an auspicious day," said WSU Law School Dean Robert M. Ackerman. "May 17 is the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. Today is a day of celebration."
"I chose May 17, the 56th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education," Keith explained, "because it (separate but equal) deprived blacks of the equal protection under the law promised in the 14th Amendment."
The Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights is designed to honor the life and legacy of Judge Keith by carrying out his vision for civil rights. The 10,000-square-foot building will feature and exhibit area, meeting and conference space and a 60-seat lecture hall.
Officials present among the 600 attending the groundbreaking included U.S. Reps. John Conyers Jr. and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer.
Granholm, whom Keith called his "fourth daughter," clerked under Keith and was sworn in as a lawyer and as attorney general and governor by her long-time mentor.
"All that notwithstanding," Granholm said of her accomplishments, "my most important credential here today is that I clerked under Judge Damon Keith."
She pointed out that Keith has been "breaking ground all his life. He taught us to be change agents for the world."
"He is someone who taught us you can effect change on the outside and the inside," she said, "and you can do that with respect."
Noting protesters across the street from the law school, Granholm said, "Every time I've seen petitioners, I've wanted to join them, even if they are protesting me. That is the great lesson Judge Keith taught us."
Keith said he continues to hear from his past clerks, whom he called "my family."
Mayor Bing presented Keith with a proclamation from the city.
"This man had foresight and vision," Bing said of Keith. "I don't think there is a better person to emulate."
Keith also received proclamations from the Michigan Legislature and the city councils of Lincoln Park and Southgate, which both declared May 16-22 as Damon J. Keith Week.
The law school's Dean Ackerman said the Damon J. Keith Center was the idea of philanthropist A. Alfred Taubman, who anted up with a $3 million contribution, the largest ever received by the law school.
Keith noted that he heard WSU President Dr. Jay Noren quote $4 million as the amount given. He taunted the shopping mail mogul to meet the higher amount.
"Throughout history," Taubman said, "great cities are recognized for their greatest building and citizens. We have our own native son, Damon J. Keith."
Taubman called Keith a friend of 30 years.
"Damon Keith, our favorite son, has shaped us into better citizens," he said. "Now the Damon J. Keith Center will continue to shape those who follow."
Joining Taubman as a major contributor and a friend of Judge Keith, Edsel B. Ford II donated $1 million toward the center on behalf of he and his wife, Cynthia, and his father, Henry Ford II, who died in 1987.
"I love Damon Keith," Ford said. "We hold him in very high esteem."
As a surprise, Ford unveiled a portrait of Keith painted by Nancy Mitter, a professional artist and professor at the College for Creative Studies.
"I hope you like this," Ford told Keith. "It is from my father and my wife and I."
"I was flabbergasted," said Keith of the portrait. "Edsel Ford's father and I were very close friends."
Noted criminal defense attorney Eugene Driker, chairman of the Wayne State University Foundation and member of the board of governors, honored Keith on behalf of the board and foundation.
"We thank you on behalf of all those you have taught, honor you for all you have done, and love you for who you are," he said.
Driker said Keith exemplifies what Anthony T. Kronman, then dean of Yale Law School, called the "lawyer-statesman."
"It's difficult to overstate the influence Damon Keith has had on the city, the state and the nation," he said.
Judges must remove themselves from politics, Driker said, but they must not separate themselves from society. Keith was a master at being a judge and a public citizen, he said.
"Today we honor the work and life of Damon J. Keith," said WSU President Noren, "but we at Wayne State are honored to have Damon J. Keith as a permanent part of the university."
Someone joked that Holder go one on one with Mayor Bing, former Detroit Pistons point guard and NBA All Star. Both men are 6-foot-3.
"Let's do the basketball thing," Holder quipped.
Turning to the Ford Motor Co. director, Holder complimented the automaker on his company's turnaround and added, "I really like that Mustang. Let's talk afterward."
The attorney general said it was an honor that his picture should grace Keith's office.
"I'm assuming my picture's up there," he joked, looking over at Keith. "He didn't say yes."
He cited Keith's "unflinching fidelity to the Constitution," noting that the honoree was born on the Fourth of July and the first in his family to go to college. He swept floors at The Detroit News while preparing to take the bar exam.
"It is not Judge Keith's recognitions," Holder said. "It is his character that embodies the best qualities of his profession. He never wavers from the four words on our nation's highest court: Equal Justice Under Law."
Detroit 36th District Court Chief Judge Marylin E. Atkins, one of many judges attending the groundbreaking, probably captured Keith's importance the best.
"Because of all his work, I am where I am in terms of being an attorney, judge and chief judge," she said. "His work is helping others achieve all they can achieve."
Published: Wed, May 19, 2010
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