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

Tue Dec 30 02:08:23 UTC 2014

    This sounds very inefficient. I personally would do as much 
electronically as possible especially using email and a computer to read 
briefs and other documents which are either filed electronically or 
typewritten. What a waste of time to utilize human readers when the 
information is readily available electronically.
Chuck

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim Barbour via Nfbc-info
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 10:35 AM
To: Nancy Lynn ; NFB of California List
Cc: nfbmo list
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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