[msb-alumni] Re: Bernstein making history on Michigan's top court
- From: Fredolver <fredolver@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:17:32 -0600
I had read this message once, however in reading it a second time, I discovered
that in no way does the article speak at all to his legal acumen. It seems to
want to cover everything else that he has done aside from his legal career and
not touch at all on decisions that he has made as a lawyer people he has worked
with or attempted to serve. It seems to me that his legal career ought to at
least be as important as the other things at which he has done in his life, if
not more. Especially if he is to serve on the Supreme Court. Fred Olver
Sent from my iPhone
> On Dec 29, 2014, at 7:21 PM, Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Ok, 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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