First Blind Justice With A Message About Seeing Disabilities In A New Way

“Those who know hardship, those who know challenge, those who know difficulty and those who know pain, come to understand purpose,” said Michigan’s Supreme Court Justice elect, Richard Bernstein, a man who has embraced what he views as advantages of his disability.

“I am blind, and justice — real justice — is blind,” said Richard Bernstein, who will be the first blind state Supreme Court Justice. (From an interview with the Detroit News.) “Programs and services are great, but people also have to understand on a personal level … a blind person can’t prejudge others.”

Richard Bernstein was born with a disability, blindness, which hasn’t hindered him from pursuing his dreams. I was inspired and moved by this talk he gave last fall.