Running in marathons. Traveling the world. Being a Michigan Supreme Court Justice.
Richard Bernstein does these things, things that many people who aren't blind never tackle.
He took the bench this year.
Steve Zaagman of station WZZM of Grand Rapids takes a look at the challenges that Bernstein faces as the nation's first blind state Supreme Court Justice.
One of the key challenges Bernstein faces is going through a lot of reading materials and retaining the information in his head, the station reports.
His law clerk Tim MacLean reads Bernstein reams of legal briefs, legal opinions, case law, evidence, transcripts, and any other material related to the case
"You have to multiply everything by four for me," Bernstein tells the stations about the extra time his worktakes. "That is literally the factor you have to use. So one hour becomes four."
The stations reports that material that takes one hour to read generally requires Bernstein to spend four hours listening to his clerks read the material.
"Everything has to be memorized or internalized," he explained. "Tim is the person that reads over and over again so I can internalize all the materials."
