The Hon. Damon J. Keith, a judge on the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals and a noted defender of constitutional and civil rights, will deliver the keynote address Jan. 21, 2002, during Wayne State University's annual Martin Luther King program, said Faye Nelson, vice president for Governmental and Community Affairs.

"This year's Martin Luther King program will celebrate the diversity of his dream that benefits all of us," Nelson said. "Judge Keith's prodigious record of legal and professional accomplishments, especially in the area of civil rights, is a shinning example of Reverend King's dream that all Americans share equally in the fruits of this great country."

Wayne State's Martin Luther King Program will be held Jan. 21 in the Student Center Building located on the university's Detroit campus and is one of the region's top events commemorating the slain Civil Rights leader. The program begins at noon. For more information, please call Wayne State University's Office of Community Affairs at (313) 577-2246.

A native of Detroit, Keith has served on the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals since1997. Prior to that, he served as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

As a member of the federal judiciary, Keith has been a courageous defender of the constitutional and civil rights of all people. Some of his most notable cases include: Davis v. School District of Pontiac, (dealing with school desegregation); Baker v. City of Detroit, (dealing with municipal affirmative action plans); United States v. Blanton, (dealing with jury selection and pretrial publicity in a criminal case); Rabidue v. Osceola Refining Co., (dealing with sex discrimination); and United States v. Sinclair (dealing with evidence obtained through warrant-less electronic surveillance.)

In Sinclair, Keith, sitting on the district court, found that then-President Richard Nixon and then-Attorney General John Mitchell could not engage in warrant-less wiretap surveillance of three individuals suspected of conspiring to destroy government property because the surveillance was in violation to the Fourth Amendment. This decision was affirmed by the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals and, ultimately, by the U.S. Supreme Court. It stands today as a landmark ruling on the issue of unreasonable search and seizure.

In 1998, the Urban League of Detroit presented Judge Keith with its Distinguished Warrior Award. The prestigious Edward J. Devitt Award for Distinguished Service to Justice was presented to him by The American Judicature Society. Judge Keith joins Justice Thurgood Marshall, Mrs. Rosa Parks and General Colin Powell as a recipient of the NAACP Spingarn Medal.

The Damon J. Keith Law Collection of African-American Legal History, housed at Wayne State University, is a repository for materials reflecting the historical accomplishments of African-American lawyers and judges.

Keith, a graduate of West Virginia State University and Howard School of Law, received a Master of Laws degree from Wayne State University in 1956.