How American Justice Richard Bernstein Struggled to Thrive While Living with Blindness

I tried to fit in as best I could at school, where I was the only blind person. I was the only one in many situations. I learned to be the only blind person in middle school and high school. I’ve learned to work with it as best I can, but sometimes there’s a lot of isolation that comes with it. It can be challenging, but you just have to love what you do, love people and believe in people. I love being around people and doing things with people and that becomes my whole life. At the end of the day, I do everything I do because I love people and I have a passion for people.

The Good Fight

It was never a given that I would go into law, but there was the idea that I should have the opportunity. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan. I was in a fraternity, which helped because I had peers who looked out for me and guided me around campus. I graduated in 1996 and had to fight my way into law school. I refused to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) because it is a visually biased exam and harmful to the visually impaired. It was a huge fight. Northwest University agreed and accepted me. Now everything has changed; if you are blind you do not have to take the LSAT.

Challenge accepted

Law school was really challenging. What takes one person an hour to do, would take me five hours. So it all took an enormous amount of time and effort. The university was not established so that a blind person could function and function, which made it very difficult. There were days when I would struggle just to stay in school and survive. I made a promise to myself that if I was to get through this and graduate, I would dedicate myself to people with disabilities and special needs to have a better life. And that’s what I’ve been doing.

Pro Bono

I graduated in 1999 and approached 65 law firms and never got a call back. It was clear that they did not want to accommodate a blind person. So I went to work at my father’s company and started in the public service division. I took on cases that no one else would, and I did it all for free. I did it for free because I believed I was called to a higher, greater mission. I absorbed all the litigation costs myself and did not exchange fees because I didn’t want people to confuse disability rights with civil rights. By not charging, it allowed me to do the work I wanted to do.

Building a better world

I was an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan, but I sued the school because I wanted the stadium to be handicapped accessible; it was a massive case that lasted for years. I represented paralyzed veterans, litigated the Detroit Department of Transportation so that people could use buses and have accessible transportation options. I have vigorously fought for construction projects to ensure that commercial facilities will be open and accessible to people with disabilities. We restructured American aviation so that people with disabilities can fly without barriers. This has affected the way you build airports and the way airlines operate, the way they employ people, to ensure that people with disabilities can fly and travel without restriction.

Iron Man

The world of pain

I was involved in an accident in 2012 – a cyclist rear-ended me and broke my hip and pelvis. I was in the hospital for 10 weeks and the pain that came out of it affects me daily. I had to learn to walk again. It gets to a certain point where it’s very frustrating because it never dissipates. It changed my whole life. I walk and exercise and try to find a way to live and work through it. After the accident, everything changed. I still run marathons, but it is much more painful and difficult.

A Little Crazy

After being a trial lawyer for 15 years, I felt that by going to the Supreme Court, I would have the opportunity to do something that would really help people and make a difference. I have come to understand that judges need to be more sympathetic, empathetic and understanding. I found that if I ran for Supreme Court Justice, I would have an opportunity to connect with people in a meaningful way. I thought I could make a difference in my understanding of what it means to go through challenges and hardships. My family thought I was a little crazy, but they were supportive of me wanting to do it and for the reasons I wanted to.

Supreme Justice

In 2014, I was elected to serve an eight-year term on the Michigan Supreme Court. I left the company and took on new responsibilities. The hours became much longer, the work much more intense. I have to internalize 25 cases every week. I memorize all the cases, which is not easy. The cases I’ve come to really appreciate are the ones where I’ve been able to give someone their freedom or their life back, cases where I’ve freed someone who was wrongfully imprisoned. I take great pride in writing decisions that will finally give people the freedom they have lost.

clean

Gate to Heaven

In 2022, I was re-elected to another eight-year term on the Michigan Supreme Court. I have February and August off from the Michigan Supreme Court. I would love to be able to serve in Hong Kong if there is an opportunity to do so. I just spent a few weeks in mainland China talking about disability rights. It was very interesting. I was able to work with the US State Department. We had a mission: to try to enable people to see the new possibilities that arise when you employ or educate a person with a disability. I also wanted to find out what China is doing for people with disabilities – and they are doing quite a lot. It was a mutual exchange, a best practice visit. That trip – and all my work – is self-funded because this is my life’s work. I think this will hopefully be my gateway to heaven. All I want is to see good things happen and life improve for people with disabilities and special needs.

Fearless Dragon

I love that the pedestrian lights in Hong Kong make noise; which is going well. People are helpful in Hong Kong. I did a run along the harbor with Fearless Dragon, a running group that works with people with disabilities. It was a phenomenal experience, there was a breeze and I could hear the ships and the water. I would love to go back to China to do the Shanghai Marathon (in December). I’m not fast, I don’t do marathons well, and they hurt like hell, but I do them anyway because I want to participate. I accept that this is a new phase of life and I have to accept the limitations that come with it. Doing the Hong Kong Marathon with Fearless Dragon would be a great experience.

Judge Richard Bernstein was in Hong Kong for three days in mid-July and spoke to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.