[Nfbf-l] Blind judge making history on Michigan's top court

[Alan Dicey]

Blind judge  making history on Michigan's top court
By ED WHITE Associated Press
The Associated Press DETROIT .  DETROIT (AP)
Richard Bernstein has been preparing for weeks to become Michigan's newest 
Supreme Court justice, even if he doesn't take office until Thursday.
  Since winning election in November, the 41-year-old Bernstein, who is 
blind, has been listening to an assistant who reads legal briefs aloud.
  Bernstein then memorizes the key points in cases that will be
argued Jan.  13.
  Bernstein says it would be easier to read and write like
everyone else, but that's not how he was born.  Michigan has
never had a blind judge on its highest court.  Few other states
have, either.
  Justice Bridget McCormack says Bernstein's background is
different than anyone else's on the high court.  She says there's
a lot that her fellow justices can learn from him, especially in
disability law.
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With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Plantation, Florida