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

[Miso Kwak]

I agree with Jim.
I am impressed and sad at the same time.
Does this article imply that Justice Bernstein did not learn Braille 
and/or utilize assistive technology such as JAWS?
Miso Kwak

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Barbour via Nfbc-info <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
To: Nancy Lynn <freespirit.stl at att.net>; NFB of California List 
<nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
Cc: nfbmo list <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Mon, Dec 29, 2014 10:37 am
Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Blind Judge Makes History, Joins Michigan's 
Supreme Court

Wow, I wonder if he plans to work off the clock for all his cases, 
memorizing each of them.

I think This seems like a very inefficient way for a judge to work. I'm 
curious what others think?

Jim

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 12:28:27PM -0600, Nancy Lynn via Nfbc-info 
wrote:
> 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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