Why is this blind US Supreme Court judge walking for hours in Dubai

Gulf News

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Transcript

00:00We will read the cases that are due for that week.

00:04So there's 25 cases that are due by Wednesday of each week.

00:08You can't, you can't make a mistake

00:11because people only have one chance to appeal.

00:13That a blind judge is a better judge than a sighted judge.

00:18This should be the crosswalk, right?

00:39A staircase.

00:40There's going to be a stairway.

00:41Hey Siri, can you text messages?

00:42Jason Turkish sent a new message.

00:53Good morning, so my name is Richard Bernstein

00:55and I'm a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court,

00:59which is the highest court within the state of Michigan.

01:03And I have to say, I love the UAE.

01:07I've had the opportunity to travel all over the world,

01:10but this is such a special place.

01:13As a blind person, it is very challenging to travel

01:16and to do things on your own.

01:18But the beauty of this country and the beauty of the people

01:22is that you're never alone.

01:24I have just become a huge fan of the UAE

01:27because I have fallen in love with the people,

01:29for it's the people that allow for me to be independent

01:33and to be able to go out and experience so much while I'm here.

01:36Since I'm an appellate court judge, I'm a high court judge,

01:39the work that I do is all appellate.

01:42So what that requires is basically every week,

01:46there are 25 cases that I have to be responsible for.

01:50So every single week in Lansing, Michigan,

01:54the justices will gather and we will decide

01:57which cases we're going to grant leave to

02:00or which cases we're not going to hear.

02:03And for all intents purposes, these are people's entire lives

02:07that are hanging in the balance.

02:09These are people who in many situations

02:11have been sentenced to life in prison

02:13without the possibility of parole.

02:16Ultimately it's done through research,

02:18it's done through writing

02:20and it's done through the transcripts.

02:22So if there wasn't a pandemic,

02:24you would be able to be in the courtroom

02:26being able to do this work.

02:28But due to the fact that we're currently

02:30in the middle of the global pandemic,

02:33nobody is meeting in person.

02:35My attitude is, well, you might as well use the time wisely.

02:40You can work from anywhere.

02:41Why not have the chance to work from here,

02:44do the work that I have to do

02:46that is required to be a judge,

02:48while at the same time have an opportunity to do work here

02:52to help promote people with disabilities

02:54and to help change perceptions

02:56and understandings that people have of the disabled.

02:59I've had the opportunity, I've done 24 marathons

03:03and I've done the full Ironman competition.

03:05Yes, I love athletics.

03:08Athletics for me gives me so much energy and excitement

03:11and I'm also a very spiritual person

03:13and I just believe that it allows for us

03:16to have a deeper connection with God.

03:18There are some people whose bodies are very infirmed,

03:21you know, like my body, you know, because I'm blind,

03:23you know, it's not as strong as other people.

03:26But I find that your spirit and your soul

03:31can allow for you to basically transcend

03:33the limitations of the body.

03:35And I have to say, you know, I'm Jewish,

03:39but I love the Quran.

03:41And one of the things that the Quran says

03:43is it says that the body should always be in motion.

03:46And I love that.

03:47I mean, the Quran is so wise.

03:49So what I do when I'm here

03:51is I wake up every morning very early

03:54and I've memorized the crescent.

03:56And what I do is I go down to the crescent,

03:59I get onto the boardwalk,

04:01and I walk back and forth and back and forth

04:03and back and forth.

04:04I walk from one end to the other end,

04:07one end to the other end.

04:09And what I'm doing when I'm walking is I'm thinking.

04:13I'm thinking about decisions.

04:16I'm thinking about cases.

04:18I'm thinking about verdicts.

04:20I'm thinking about, you know,

04:22what is gonna be a just and fair and merciful decision.

04:26I'm thinking about all of these things

04:30as I'm walking.

04:30I don't wanna be still.

04:31If you're sedentary, you're not able to think as well.

04:34So the way that it works is I basically live off of my phone

04:38because my phone is my life.

04:40So what I do is Siri basically will call the people.

04:43We will read the cases that are due for that week.

04:47So there's 25 cases that are due by Wednesday of each week.

04:51We have to know those cases cold.

04:54You can't make a mistake.

04:56You can't miss anything.

04:58You can't not be on your game every single day

05:02because people only have one chance to appeal.

05:05And whatever we decide within that appeal

05:08is the end for that person.

05:10The general belief that people have,

05:12if you can't see, you can't be a judge.

05:14There's 800 judges that report up to your court.

05:18There's no way that a blind person

05:20can possibly oversee what 800 judges are doing

05:25and then make final decisions when you can't even see.

05:28How do you do it?

05:29So the way that it works is that ultimately,

05:33number one is that I would venture to say

05:36that a blind judge is a better judge than a sighted judge.

05:41I would make that argument.

05:42You know what?

05:43Isn't that the truth?

05:45Justice is blind.

05:46What is the greatest distraction?

05:48It's visual distraction.

05:50Blind people don't have visual distractions.

05:53If someone comes in front of you and you can't see them,

05:57you're not gonna prejudge them

05:58because you don't know what they look like.

06:00We are able to sense and understand people's spirits

06:04because we don't see them on their outer core.

06:07And if you don't see somebody on the outside,

06:10that means that you're focusing on basically their spirit

06:13or their soul, which basically allows for you

06:16to have a greater appreciation

06:18or a greater understanding of who they are.

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