COMMUNITY VIEWS
1.4;7
Judge Damon Keith:
A Local Legend
T
expectations were high, but few could
he great British Prime Minis-
have predicted that Keith would go
ter Benjamin Disraeli once
down in history as one of America's
said, "Justice is truth in
greatest federal judges.
action."
Throughout his career on the bench,
I believe that those who have the
Keith
has fought to protect the consti-
courage to act upon their morally-based
tutional
rights of all citizens, with par-
core beliefs, end up as the
ticular regard for the poor
heroes who change our world
and
the oppressed.
for the better. One such hero
In
United States vs. Sin-
of our time, who has meant
clair,
Judge
Keith stood up to
so much to the cause of jus-
then
President
Richard Nixon
tice, is U.S. Court of Appeals
and Attorney General John
Judge Damon J. Keith.
Mitchell and ruled that the
Aside from my parents,
government
cannot wiretap
and — from afar — the late
an
individual's
phone — even
Supreme Court Justice Thur-
under
the
guise
of protecting
good Marshall, no one has
national security — unless a
MELVIN
been as inspirational to me as
court-approved warrant is
"BUTCH"
Judge Keith.
obtained beforehand. This
HOLLOWELL
Damon Keith — early on
decision of Judge Keith's was
Special
to
— established a pattern of
unanimously affirmed by the
The
Jewish
News
high professionalism in law
U. S. Supreme Court and
and deep involvement in the
sent
an
important
signal that, as he
community. Before ascending to the
wrote
in
his
opinion,
"We are a country
bench, he distinguished himself as a
of laws and not of men ... the president
top-flight lawyer, president of the
is, of course, still subject to the constitu-
Detroit Housing Commission and
tional
limitations imposed upon him by
chairman of the Michigan Civil Rights
the
Fourth
Amendment."
Commission. Along with Arthur John-
In
Davis
vs. School District of Ponti-
son, Dr. Lionel Swan, Ms. Irene Graves
ac,
Judge
Keith
ordered the integration
and others, Keith gave birth to the
of
the
Pontiac
School
System. This was
NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner, mak-
the
first
federal
ruling
of its type north
ing the event the largest of its type in
of the Mason-Dixon line. At the time
the world.
the case was filed in 1970, 23 of the 29
On Oct. 12, 1967, when President
Pontiac schools were either all white or
Lyndon Johnson appointed Damon
all black.
Keith as a U. S. District Court Judge,
Just days before Keith's order was to
Melvin Hollowell, a Detroit attorney,
take effect, the Ku Klux Klan dynamit-
is a former congressional candidate.
ed 10 of the district's school buses and
Fr'
froroLb53 A '
-
leveled death threats against Judge
Keith. Undaunted by this intimidation,
Keith ordered that his ruling be imple-
mented as scheduled, regardless of his
own personal safety
It is this type of courage that consis-
-
tently shone through in other land-
mark opinions of his, and has made
him a legal legend in his own time.
Off the bench, Judge Keith has used
his position to speak out against racism
and intolerance in our society. In 1976
Judge Keith traveled
to the Soviet Union
and met with
human rights
activists Anatoly
Sharansky and
Andrei Sakharov to
speak out against
their illegal impris-
onment. Sharansky
and Keith became
good friends by the
end of the visit, and
Sharansky gave
Keith his cap as a
symbol of their soli-
darity. Sharansky
later wrote to thank
Judge Keith for his
courage and support
upon his release
from prison in 1986. He also inquired
about the cap, to which Judge Keith
responded that he kept it close by, in his
chambers, in remembrance of their
friendship.
When I asked the judge why he
went to Russia he explained that the
oppression of Jews was no different
then the oppression of blacks. "Uncle
Damon" sees the big picture.
As a result of his unwavering com-
mitment to making our world a better
place, the Detroit Board of Education
named a school after him. He has won
the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, the
organization's most prestigious award;
and, last August he received the Thur-
good Marshall Award from the Ameri-
can Bar Association, the greatest civil
rights recognition
from the legal com-
munity.
The walls of
Judge Keith's cham-
bers at the Federal
Courthouse down-
town are literally
covered with auto-
graphed pictures
from presidents,
royalty, judges,
politicians and lead-
ers from around the
world.
He has received
honorary degrees
from schools such
as Yale, Michigan,
Howard, NYU,
Colgate and
Georgetown: 27 honorary degrees in all.
And yet, despite all of these accolades,
Judge Damon Keith is as warm and
down to earth today as he has ever
been. Damon Keith is a national trea-
sure. We are blessed to have him as one
of Detroit's great heroes. Li
Rev. Lyons
Was Inspirational
how
stand to recite the Kaddish
appropriate for this wonderful man,
how deserving, how touching, how
moving.
Then Jim's son, David, read a letter3
Jim wrote while he was in the hospital
— how he was "walking in the valley."
And he was not afraid! How inspiring,
how hopeful for us all.
I feel Jim Lyons most certainly was
the most important man I will ever
have met. I — and we — will miss
him.
Arnold Michlirr.5
Past president, Ecumenical Institute for
Jewish-Christian Studies
<
LETTERS
I learned of the untimely passing of
the Rev. Jim Lyons.
Although I was well aware of his
severe health problems, I hoped that
in spite of them he would be able to
continue his blessed work for years to
come. I simply could not imagine the
Ecumenical Institute, the Jewish com-
munity of which he was an honorary
member, or the world without this
rare human being.
It was in May 1987 that he asked
my permission to reprint a newspa-
per article of mine which was written
in commemoration of the 40th
anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto
uprising, recounting the Eichmann
trial in Jerusalem. It made me come
to grips for the first time with the
enormity of the Shoah. As someone
dedicating his life to the learning of
and teaching of the Shoah, he want-
4/3
1998
28
ed to share it with the Jewish and
Christian members of the Institute,
which he founded only a few years
before.
May we all, Christians and Jews
alike who had the great privilege of
knowing the Rev. Lyons, find a little
comfort in the fact that such a person
lived in our midst and that he man-
aged to do so much in his lifetime.
May we all continue to do his work,
his life work of promoting good rela-
tions between Christians and Jews and
learning and teaching the lessons of
the Shoah.
His vast legacy should sustain us for
many years to come even though he
will be missed beyond words. May his
memory be blessed.
Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield
We have lost our best friend. The Rev.
James Lyons (The Jewish News, March
27) has gone to continue his hate-
fighting in the great beyond.
He discussed and debated with his
Christian colleagues and audiences
about Israel (he had been there over
40 times), Judaism and anti-Semitism.
He labeled anti-Semitism as a Christ-
ian problem — which only Christians
could resolve.
He also encouraged Jews to learn
about Christianity; conversion was the
furthest thing from his mind. I am a
better Jew for having studied at his
feet.
At the memorial service on March
22, Rabbi Norman Roman had us
—
Analysis
Is Flawed
James Besser's analysis in the March
0 <