Watch CBS News

Local Judge Honored As Champion Of Justice

DETROIT (WWJ) - A huge honor this week for a man who has worn the "robe of justice" for decades. Federal Judge Damon Keith will be the center of attention at the Ford Freedom Award gala Tuesday night at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.

Judge Keith is this year's Ford Freedom Award scholar with Judge Constance Baker Motley also being honored. "I'm just excited and delighted and thrilled that I'm receiving this award and my close and dear friend Constance Baker Motley is getting it posthumously," says Keith. He tells WWJ that both he and Motley were both appointed by President Lyndon Johnson.

Motley died in 2005 at the age of 84. She was the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. As the award scholar, Keith will also lecture students on the contributions made by Motley. "Just a brilliant woman and one who helped change the course of history. And it's good that this is happening on May 17th because she was one of the lawyers that argued Brown v. Board of Education before the United States Supreme Court," says Keith. The two are being honored as Champions of Justice on the 57th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Judge Keith is known for decisions challenging warrantless wiretapping and closed-door deportation hearings. "Those two cases in terms of President Nixon and President Bush were very important because it set the tone of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights," he says.

And, Keith was actually born on the Fourth of July. "I think it's special that I was born on July 4th and I've sort of set the pace that we must be, as those four words that the Supreme Court says bound by 'equal justice under law' and I've tried to do that," says Keith.

For more information on the 2011 Ford Freedom Awards, click here

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.