Blind Judge Making History On Michigan Supreme Court

[bobandtorey]

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."

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/28/blind-judge-michigan-supreme-court_n_6386842.html

[bobandtorey]

We all will see what kind of judge he may be for all cannabis users using cannabis for medical reasons 

[Willy]

I have a good feeling about this one :-)

[imiubu]

I do hope my vote was not misplaced

[Kingdiamond]

I voted for him as well heres to hoping we brought in a friend to the medical marijuana community and not another dissenter.

[shishka]

Had to laugh when "he" started following my Instagram feed which is nothing but canna pics a couple weeks before the election. I'm sure it was a staffer playing around but I like to thing me and Rich are tight now.

[budpuffer]

i voted for this guy too...i hope he works for us...bp

[t-pain]

maybe we could write him a letter asking him to look out for patients.

 

i mean keep an eye out.

 

i mean... asking him to see how corrupt the system is.

 

you know, i'm not good with letters. nevermind.

Edited December 31, 2014 by t-pain

[Indigro]

His tv ads were at least compelling... standing up for people & their rights against abuse. That's what I took from them... vs the three that pooled together for their 'tough on criminals' theme. I didnt even take away a 'tough on crime' in as much as 'tough on criminals'. SC judges should be all about protecting constitutional rights, not a political agenda... though I realize that's an ideal long forgotten.

[bobandtorey]

The S.C has been good to us   some what 

[slipstar059]

I voted for Bernstein as well. His familly tree is solid, and they seem like good people.

[nsmn8r]

I voted for Bernstein as well. His familly tree is solid, and they seem like good people.

Really? I grew up in west mi and I've been hearing 1800callsam commercials my whole life and to me they seem like a bunch of blood sucking ambulance chasers just like the rest of them.

[knucklehead bob]

Really? I grew up in west mi and I've been hearing 1800callsam commercials my whole life and to me they seem like a bunch of blood sucking ambulance chasers just like the rest of them.

 

Purple Gang ring a bell ?

 

 

PURPLE GANG

The Purple Gang was Detroit’s most notorious organized crime gang in the 1920s and 1930s. Led most often by members of the Bernstein family (most notably brothers Ray and Abe) the Purple Gang was made up of immigrants from Detroit’s lower east side.  

 

The gang, which originally was a loose confederation of independent criminals, began by hijacking alcohol smuggled by others across the Canadian border during prohibition.  Al Capone, the notorious Chicago gangster, chose to use the Purple Gang to supply whisky rather than battle them for Detroit territory. 

 

In the 1920s, the Purple Gang was known for their involvement in the “Cleaners and Dyers War,” a dispute between the cleaning industry and its union.  The union hired the Purple Gang to keep its members in line and harass non-members who worked in the industry. In 1928, several members of the Purple Gang were tried for extortion for their role in the war, but all were acquitted. 

 

Around the time of the trial, the Purple Gang was in its heyday.  They controlled all of Detroit’s underworld, including the city’s gambling, liquor, and drug trade. The Purple Gang of the late 1920s was nearly invincible to law enforcement, since witnesses were too terrified to testify in murder and criminal trials. 

 

Nonetheless, the Purple Gang began to dissolve in the early 1930s through inter-gang strife and warfare.  In September 1931, the Purple Gang murdered three of their own members who were working against the gang in their own interests. The three men, Hymie Paul, Joe Sutker, and Joe Lebowitz, were invited to a peace negotiation at the Collingwood Manor Apartment building in Detroit. When they arrived, they were shot.  Sol Levine, the man who transported the three gentlemen to the apartment, was later caught by Detroit Police and pressured into testifying against the gang.  As a result, three out of four of the men involved with the murders, including Ray Bernstein, were convicted of the third degree murder and sent to jail for life sentences.  

 

The “Collingwood Manor Massacre,” as the event came to be known, marked the downfall of the Purple Gang.  By 1935, the alliance had splintered and the Purple Gang no longer reigned over Detroit’s underworld.

http://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/purple-gang 

Edited January 3, 2015 by knucklehead bob

[Willy]

Well we'll have to see how he handles himself, Dont bother me at all, if he is fair on MMJ thats all I need to hear.