[il-talk] Fw: [Nfbc-info] Blind Judge Makes History, Joins Michigan's Supreme Court

Mon Dec 29 19:03:50 UTC 2014

Rob Kaiser, President National Federation of the Blind of California Orange 
County Chapter cell#(760)792-0525 email;
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
-----Original Message----- 
From: Nancy Lynn via Nfbc-info
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 10:28 AM
To: nfbmo list ; NFBC List
Subject: [Nfbc-info] Blind Judge Makes History,Joins Michigan's Supreme 
Court

I got this from another list and thought it would interest you.
Blind Judge Makes History, Joins Michigan's Supreme Court

DETROIT (AP) -- 

Richard Bernstein officially joins the Michigan Supreme Court in a few days. 
But he's been working off the clock since November, preparing

for 10 cases in an extraordinary way - memorizing the key points of every 
brief read to him by an aide.

Bernstein, 41, has been blind since birth. After winning the election, an 
assistant at his family's Detroit-area law firm began reading briefs to him 
for

mid-January arguments, including a medical marijuana case and a labor 
dispute covering thousands of state employees.

"It would be much easier if I could read and write like everyone else, but 
that's not how I was created," Bernstein said. "No question, it requires a 
lot

more work, but the flip side is it requires you to operate at the highest 
level of preparedness. ... This is what I've done my entire life. This goes 
all

the way back to grade school for me."

Michigan has never had a blind judge on its highest court, and few other 
states have. In Missouri, Justice Richard Teitelman has been legally blind 
since

age 13. Judge David Tatel, who is blind, sits on a federal appeals court in 
Washington, D.C.

"Every new justice has to make a transition from whatever life he or she had 
before," Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. said. "His will be different than

others, but he's extraordinarily successful and very driven. You don't enter 
Ironman competitions without having a steel backbone."

Indeed, Bernstein's remarkable background undoubtedly appealed to voters. He 
has run more than 15 marathons, and in 2008 completed a triathlon by riding

a bike 112 miles, running 26.2 miles and swimming 2.4 miles with the help of 
guides. In 2012, he made headlines in New York City after being struck by

a speeding bicyclist while running in Central Park, a collision that put him 
in a hospital for weeks.

Bernstein is widely known in southeastern Michigan because his family's 
personal-injury law firm regularly advertises on TV. He spent more than $1.8 
million

of his own money to campaign for the state Supreme Court. His slogan? "Blind 
Justice."

As one of only two Democrats on the seven-member court, Bernstein is 
unlikely to crack the court's conservative sway. But he's still expected to 
make a

difference.

"His own experience and background is different than anyone else's at the 
conference table," said Justice Bridget McCormack, who was a law professor 
before

being elected in 2012. "Richard knows a whole lot about disability law the 
rest of us don't. We don't get a lot of those cases. Who knows how it will 
be

useful?"

Bernstein will be sworn into office on New Year's Day. Timothy MacLean, his 
assistant for three years, has been reading briefs aloud to prepare him for

the court's first batch on oral arguments on Jan. 13.

"We do use technology but technology can only take you so far," Bernstein 
said. "I internalize the cases word for word, pretty much commit them 
primarily

by memory. I'm asking the reader to pinpoint certain things, read footnotes, 
look at the legislative record."

Hearing arguments and writing opinions is only part of a Supreme Court 
justice's job. They meet weekly to decide whether to accept or reject 
appeals in

more than 2,000 cases a year. Because he's blind, Bernstein will be having 
many conversations with his law clerks instead of communicating through 
email

or long memos.

"My chambers will be unique," he said. "Not many clerks will have as much 
interaction with a justice as mine will."
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