[msb-alumni] Re: Bernstein making history on Michigan's top court
- From: Karen Carter <kcmm54@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:29:37 -0500
Money talks and suckers walk Now you know why I have been a walker all my
life. No money honey. And it is who you know not what you know. And once again.
I know nobody. I do know the most important one Jesus.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Dec 31, 2014, at 14:23, Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Well, that's because he hasn't made any decisions, Fred. He is the scion of
> the Call Sam Bernstein Law Firm. He has no judicial experience; he was a
> public Trustee on the Wayne State Board of Governors or whatever they call
> that board, equivalent to the Board of Trustees at MSU or the Board of
> Regents at the Weasel University.
>
> Steve
> Class of '72
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Fredolver
> To: msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 2:17 PM
> Subject: [msb-alumni] Re: Bernstein making history on Michigan's top court
>
> 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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