Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice by David Tatel

[Saluki]

I was impressed with the life of Appellate Judge David Tatel's biography. Normally the lives of non Supreme Court Judges are not something that people would read, aside from Judge Judy, so I'm glad I decided to listen to this on audiobook during my walks.  He was a Judge on the DC Circuit, where 4 of the 9 current supreme court justices were picked from. If Bush v Gore had been decided differently, he might have been the first blind Supreme Court Justice (though he wants to be known as a judge who happens to be blind, not a blind judge). But 8 years later he was too old to be considered in the running.

 

https://amzn.to/4meMiqr

 

Besides working at the top firms and being involved in civil rights, desegregation, and disability rights since the LBJ administration, his personal story is fascinating. Despite slowly going blind from retinitis pigmentosa, he developed tactics to hide the fact for as long as he could. As his sight faded his ego preferred for him to be thought of as aloof or even rude for not shaking someone's hand when they extended it, than to be thought of as blind. It wasn't until the end of his career that he began to use a cane and later a guide dog and interact with the world with her help. In appellate panels, judges are randomly assigned to cases and seated according to seniority, so his clerk would put a treat on the chair that he was supposed to sit in so the dog would know to stop there. 

 

The court system is a mess now, especially the supreme court, and has become so politicized that it is not recognizable. It was refreshing to hear about how process and deliberations to ensure that he was being absolutely fair and following the law even if it didn't match his personal beliefs. On one controversial case he was writing the majority opinion and exchanged drafts back and forth 16 times with the dissenting judge because he wanted to be sure that he fully understood the other side and was responsive to all their arguments. 

 

Because he must follow Supreme Court precedent as they strip back civil rights and, even if he disagrees, he made a choice. He retired rather than to keep working, where his work would be enforcing and upholding rulings that he disagreed with and fought his entire life against. Wow!  Highly recommend. 

[Blugolds]

"Justice is blind" the fact that he went to such great lengths to maintain impartiality and objectivity is admirable. Especially as it seems in todays political climate that may be in question. I always enjoyed reading opinions because the writing gave you a glimpse of the person behind the decision. I always liked the cases with opinions that allowed you to feel the empathy on the page.   

 

"to ensure that he was being absolutely fair and following the law even if it didn't match his personal beliefs." In the opinions you can often tell that although the personal beliefs of the writer influence what they feel it should be, within current legal boundaries and given precedent they are limited, and I can respect that more than trying to look for ways to bend things to their own ideals. In simple terms, "I wish it was this way, but we arent there yet, so for now, this is our decision, but it gives us something to strive for".