One-On-One With Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein

Southfield( CW50) - Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein holds a position that puts the lives and the futures of Michigan's people in his hands. As a Justice, Bernstein has an important role in court that is filled with endless amounts of information, numbers, facts, and cases. But since the day he was born, Bernstein has lived without his sight.

Being born blind certainly had its challenges for Justice Bernstein and his family, but that did not mean he had a bad childhood. Bernstein has described is childhood as one that was full of passion, motivation, happiness, and positivity. All of this stems from his parents, and their attitude towards how life should be lived. they were not going to let his lack of sight hinder his dreams and his goals.

Bernstein is just one in a family full of attorneys and others in the industry of law. He has risen to a position in our state, becoming the first blind Justice that the state has ever had.

This path wasn't without challenges that he needed to overcome. Both in law school and in court now, Justice Bernstein cannot rely on the pages of court cases to be read without sight, and braille isn't an option, as the cases would be hundreds, if not thousands of pages long. He has overcome this challenge by going through a process of having his cases read to him and then he internalizes and memorizes every single piece of information that he might need in his job. This process is would be incredibly difficult for most, but Justice Bernstein has a passion and determination to succeed in all fields, making his rise to the state's highest court, one of the more impressive achievements you'll see.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein joins Lisa Germani on Community Connect to discuss his life and living with blindness, and how his positive attitude and passion for law gets him through every day.

Watch Community Connect, Saturday at 7am on CW50