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'Crusader for Justice' captures storied life of Judge Damon J. Keith By Cassandra Spratling Published in Detroit Free Press December 1, 2013 “Damon J. Keith may be the greatest American jurist never to have sat on the Supreme Court, and certainly the staunchest on behalf of civil rights for all and on government conducted in the open, to be seen by all.” So begins “Crusader for Justice” (Wayne State University Press, $29.95), a new book out now about the life of U.S. 6th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Damon J. Keith. But the book, like Keith’s life, is about far more than legal accomplishments. It’s about one man’s ability to challenge an unjust system and make it better — not just for himself, but for all Americans. The grandson of slaves, Keith rose from a janitor, mocked for even considering becoming a lawyer, to a legal giant who helped change some of the very laws and conditions that had locked black men like him into menial labor. Yet, despite his own rise — or perhaps because of it — he holds in high esteem the men and women whose sometimes thankless labor opened doors for him and others. That comes through in any conversation with Keith, and loud and clear in the book. Keith’s friend, philanthropist and business mogul A. Alfred Taubman has pledged to put a copy of “Crusader for Justice” in every Detroit public high school. Recently, the Free Press talked with Keith about his life and the book — written by Peter J. Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University, and Trevor W. Coleman, a former columnist and editorial writer for the Free Press. QUESTION: You were determined to make something of yourself from a young age. Why? ANSWER: My dad (Perry Keith) worked at the Ford factory, and he said none of his children had gone to college, and I was the youngest of the children. He said, “Son, I would like to live to see you finish college.” He came down to West Virginia State for my graduation in 1943. As we walked around the campus he said, “Son, God has allowed me to see you graduate from college, and I’m ready to go now.” I came home a couple of days later. That first night, my dad and mother greeted me and everything and my dad said how proud he was of me. The next morning, when I got up, my mom said, “Your dad had a stroke and he’s very sick.” He died a day after that. Q: How did your father influence you? A: He was the finest man I’d ever known. No. 1, he was a family man. ... He wanted me to make something out of myself. One of the great lessons that I learned from him was to love your family and work hard for it. To see him going out in snow and ice every morning to the factory and come back with scars over his face. And he never complained. There was no union at that time. No sick days. No vacation days. And yet he worked and kept the family together and had pictures taken of the family. Q: Why did you choose to study law? A: I was in an all-black unit with five white officers (during World War II). The commanding officer was Thomas E. Powell from Birmingham, Ala. And he was as mean as a rattlesnake. He frequently called the black soldiers under his command (the N-word). And in this black unit, I had finished college, (but) I was in the Quartermasters Corp. and baking bread in Cheyenne, Wyo. Inside of me, I thought that this was wrong, that we should all be working together and fighting together, and we’re all in this war to end Nazi-ism and anti-Semitism in Germany. And then after the war was over and I returned to the States, I could see white German soldiers riding in the front of the bus and going into restaurants in the States that said “for whites only.” Q: So German prisoners could go where black American soldiers could not? A: Yes. ... In the Army, one of my closet friends was Tommie Newsome. He was from Inkster. Tommie had finished one year at Detroit College of Law. He suggested that maybe I should consider (studying) the law (if I wanted to change things). Q: Why did you choose to study at Howard University Law School? A: When I returned from the Army, I spent some time at West Virginia State College, where I’d earned my undergraduate degree. West Virginia State College President John W. Davis said, “Damon, Howard University Law School is setting up a law team to eliminate segregation in the country, and if you’re interested in the law, I would suggest and recommend that you go to Howard University Law School.” Q: How did Thurgood Marshall and other prominent lawyers who were your professors influence you at Howard? A: They taught us there — and this was the concept and philosophy of Thurgood Marshall and Charlie (Hamilton) Houston, Jim Nabors, Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill and others — to use the law as a means of social change. Thurgood used to say more than once, “The white man wrote those words — equal justice under the law — and when you leave this law school, I want you to make him live up to those commitments. So when I left there, I had fire in my belly. Q: Of all the stories in the book, is there one that really stands out, that helped shape the man you became? A: No, not just one. But when I came back to Detroit — I finished law school in 1949 — there were no black judges, no black public officials, the few black lawyers we had, some worked in the post office at night and would go over to Recorders Court and sit in the jury box and wait for the white judges to assign them a case. And the black clients didn’t have faith in the black lawyers because there were no black judges. Many of them were from the South and had seen segregation at its worst down there, and they thought this was just another part of racism. So they thought to have a black lawyer was racist. You should get a white lawyer to get justice. You had white judges, white prosecutors, so you needed a white lawyer to defend you. Q: Is that what made you want to become a judge? A: I never thought I’d become a judge, but I knew that I wanted to be in the practice of law to eliminate this type of racism and demeaning experiences that we as black lawyers received from white judges. If you check my record, I have never, since I’ve been on bench 40 years, held anyone in contempt of court or threatened to hold anyone in contempt. I just tried to treat them all with dignity and respect, not like I was treated by many of the white judges when I first started practicing law. Q: At what point did you set your eye on becoming a judge? A: The first black judge in the state was Charles W. Jones. I worked in his office, and Gov. (G. Mennen) Williams appointed him as Recorders Court judge. I was campaign manager for Judge (Wade) McCree. He won election as Wayne County circuit judge, and I became very involved with politics. And then I worked in Sen. Philip Hart’s campaign, and Bill Ellmann and I became involved in (Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Voelker’s) campaign. And Bill and I, at that time, talked about maybe we should try to get a judgeship. That was the first time I’d thought about a judgeship. (President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Keith to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1967, upon Hart’s recommendation). Q: You went on to decide a number of incredible cases. Of all the cases with your stamp, which one do you most treasure? That’s sort of difficult. (But it would probably be) the one that went to the Supreme Court and is now known as the Keith case. President (Richard) Nixon and the attorney general sued me and said I was wrong. I had to get a lawyer to represent me. After the Supreme Court came down affirming me unanimously, I was at a luncheon and Henry Ford (II) was there. He said, “Damon, what’s this Keith case all about?” I said, “Henry, it simply means this: If you and your wife were having a conversation in your bedroom, the government, under the guise of national security, could listen in on your conversation, everything you and your wife said or did, and their defense was they were doing it under the guise of national security. All I did — and the Supreme Court agreed — I said no, you can’t do that. You have to show probable cause and go to a magistrate or a judge and say these are the reasons I want to intervene on the conversations between Henry Ford and his wife.” Q: You have more than 40 honorary degrees and countless other awards. Which one are you most proud of? A: That’s difficult to say. I read the Bible every morning as soon as I come in, and I’m just thankful to God. He’s allowed me to live and really make a contribution in the law for all Americans and make life a little better.

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