Damon J. Keith
Judge Keith no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Keith decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He treated a warrant's execution deadline as a constitutional safeguard, allowing delay only for weighty practical reasons rather than officer convenience.
“A delay should be deemed permissible when it is necessitated by a legitimate concern for someone’s physical safety, because of the physical inaccessibility of the premises, and other justifications of like magnitude.”
He preserved jury adjudication of legal damages claims even when equitable claims appeared in the same action.
“The Seventh Amendment question depends on the nature of the issue to be tried rather than the character of the overall action.”
He vacated labor awards when an arbitrator departed from the collective-bargaining agreement and substituted personal notions of industrial justice.
“an arbitrator is confined to interpretation and application of the collective bargaining agreement; he does not sit to dispense his own brand of industrial justice.”
Procedural preferences
He viewed fee awards as necessary to make public-interest civil-rights litigation practically available to plaintiffs with limited resources.
“The Court is convinced that if plaintiffs such as those in the present case (i. e., those with limited resources) are required to carry the burden of their attorneys’ fees, parties seeking to advance the public interest by obtaining similar injunctive relief will be few in number.”
Cautions
He described abusive investigative conduct in unusually direct terms when stale warrants and questionable tactics undermined constitutional safeguards.
“what occurred was an example of official lawlessness which cannot be tolerated in a civilized society.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment be and is hereby granted.”
“it is therefore ordered that petitioner be released from custody, unless he is granted a new trial within thirty days”
“the Government’s motion for summary judgment is granted”
“This Court therefore grants the defendant’s motions to quash search warrants and suppress evidence.”
“the Secretary’s decision that denied Medicare extended care benefits to plaintiff must be reversed.”
“this Court hereby grants plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees and out-of-pocket expenses”
“For the reasons which will be explained below, the Court denies defendants’ motions.”
“the Union’s Motion for Summary Judgment be, and the same hereby is granted.”
“the Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment be, and the same hereby is, denied.”
“the plaintiff’s motion for temporary relief be and the same hereby is, denied.”
“the defendant’s motion for a partial summary judgment be, and the same hereby is, granted.”
“it is ordered that the plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint be, and hereby is, dismissed.”
“summary judgment in favor of the defendant is granted”
A historical record
Judge Keith no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.