Wednesday, April 07, 2021
A blind Jewish Michigan Supreme Court justice was stuck in Dubai en route to Israel
On a weekday afternoon, if you walk down the Palm Jumeirah Boardwalk, a promenade overlooking the Arabian Gulf that encircles this capital city's famous palm-shaped artificial island, you may encounter a man repeating legal texts line by line to himself for hour after hour.
That man is Richard Bernstein, 46, a judge serving on the Michigan Supreme Court. He's been living in Dubai for two months and counting. And the texts he's reciting — memorizing in some instances — are court filings from the week's cases.
Bernstein, who has been visually impaired since birth due to a genetic disorder called retinitis pigmentosa, is blind. So he studies his cases by calling his clerks, having them read the filings to him sentence by sentence, then repeating the documents until he's familiar enough with them to form an opinion.
His walks, which are often as long as 20 miles, can take six hours, with Bernstein traversing the nearly 7-mile boardwalk multiple times. The court convenes on Wednesdays, when it can hear up to 26 cases in one day.
"If I am reviewing a murder case, it will be a three-week transcript which can't work in Braille," Bernstein said in an interview over local delicacies outside the five-star Atlantis Hotel, where he is staying. "I internalize these cases, not word by word, but to know all the key legal issues that are relevant within that case."
He added, "The Palm's crescent is like a runway without obstacles, so I have my phone and cane to navigate while focusing on my work assignment at the same time."
Usually Bernstein, a Democrat who was elected to an eight-year term in 2014, would be doing this work from Lansing, Michigan's capital. But in January he quarantined in Dubai for two weeks on his way to Israel for a visit. During that time Israel closed its borders, and Bernstein was told he could either stay in Dubai or fly home.
He chose to stay in Dubai — and has no immediate plans to leave. With the court meeting virtually due to COVID, he doesn't need to, despite the eight-hour time difference. He's even taken both doses of the COVID vaccine there.
"I had already started becoming close with so many incredible people here and so I decided to stay back," he said. "As a blind person it is very challenging to travel and do things on your own. But the beauty of this country is that you are never alone. So many people have helped me around here that I know this area like the back of my hand."
Walking 20 miles a day is not a challenge for Bernstein, an avid runner who has competed in 22 marathons and the full Ironman triathlon. In 2012, a cyclist crashed into him in New York City's Central Park, leaving him with a broken hip and pelvis, and landing him in the hospital for 10 weeks.
Bernstein walks now because he says it hurts less to be in motion. He appreciates that the UAE officially refers to people with disabilities as "people of determination," a term coined in 2016.
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