Shortly after becoming a lawyer in Pensacola, Levin nominated Nathaniel Dedmond to be the first African American as a member of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Counties Bar Association. Several lawyers in the Association were offended by the nomination and had their wives call Marilyn, Levin's wife. They asked Marilyn how she would like to be sitting next to Nathaniel Dedmond's wife at a bar meeting. They were hoping to get Marilyn to go to Fred and have him drop the nomination. Instead, Marilyn replied: "Oh, yes, that will be fine." Levin commented that he had never been more proud of Marilyn. When the nomination came up for vote, the Association voted against Levin's nomination.