[msb-alumni] Bernstein making history on Michigan's top court
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 20:21:14 -0500
BlankOk, this article kind of ticked me off. If others feel like I do,
write your letter to the editor. I haven't written yet, but my reaction is
below.
Steve
Bernstein making history on Michigan's top 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. Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap
I think Justice Bernstein does an injustice to blind people. It sets the
impression that only the super-blind can succeed and then only with the help
of aides. I know Richard is Braille and apparently technology-averse, but
those of us who are competent can use technology to perform productively in
upper-level careers in the private sector and government. I think this
article leaves a misimpression in the public's mind.
Steve
Class of '72
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