Judge Damon J. Keith: Detroit’s Federal Guardian of Civil Rights & Constitutional Courage From Detroit’s historic Black Bottom neighborhood to the federal bench, Judge Damon J. Keith stood as one of America’s most fearless defenders of civil rights and constitutional freedom. Born in 1922, Keith was shaped by Detroit, educated at Howard University and Wayne State University, and forged by service in World War II. Appointed to the U.S. District Court in 1967, he used the law not as a shield for p