We So Move

Harry S. Truman was known for his accountability — immortalized by a sign on his desk at the White House that read: The Buck Stops Here. The Hon. Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, relies on two similar inspirations: Think! and Man’s Harvest in Life Depends Entirely on What He Sows. Appointed to the Sixth Circuit in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter (Keith was named to the district court a decade earlier), the judge has been a strident champion of civil rights, affirmative action, and personal freedoms. “Democracies die behind closed doors,” Keith says.
His office in the Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse Building in Detroit contains dozens of honorary degrees, a statue of Ben Franklin, African-American artwork, and two large fish tanks. “The aquariums are a form of relaxation,” he says.

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Keith shared a long friendship with the late Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. “If I ever had a question about the law, Thurgood was always there,” Keith says. “He appeared before the Supreme Court more than 30 times. He was a great jurist, and without his leadership in Brown v. Board of Education, civil rights in this country would have taken much longer to take root. I miss him every day.”

“People always ask me what it takes to get a photograph on my Wall of Fame,” Keith says. “Most of the people are family members. I’ve also attended my fair share of testimonial dinners and award ceremonies, so many have come from those events. One of my favorites is the picture of the 1968 Detroit Tigers. That World Series win wasn’t so much about the team. It served as the symbolic end to the terrible riots (in Detroit in 1967).”

Keith gained national attention in 1971 when he ruled that then U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell must disclose the transcripts of illegal wiretaps Mitchell had authorized without obtaining a search warrant. In hindsight, the case was a harbinger of troubles to come in the Nixon White House, as Watergate soon emerged as a major misuse of political power. Nixon eventually resigned, ushering in the presidency of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford

Not one for a computer, Keith researches case law the old-fashioned way — jotting down notes on a yellow legal pad. “I work every day of the week except Sunday,” he says. “My accomplishments are the result of the kindness of others. When the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History was having financial difficulties, we (the community) raised $1 million in six weeks to keep the institution out of bankruptcy. That’s friendship in action.”