Seeking State-Wide Elective Office

By Dave Groves
October 21, 2002

The day-to-day challenges Richard Bernstein's blindness present can be frustrating. The attorney, television and radio program host and advocate of disabled people's rights must rely on others to drive him from place to place. He cannot easily navigate in unfamiliar places and he cannot read anything that isn't printed in Braille.

Still, the challenges the 28-year-old trial lawyer has been most passionate about overcoming are larger in scope than those that impact only his life. His passion has fueled tireless work that has affected the lives of countless others.

As a candidate for the Wayne State University Board of Governors and Michigan's first blind candidate for statewide office, Bernstein says his work has just begun.

Making others see

Bernstein is proud to say he is a product of Michigan's public school special education system.

A graduate of Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, he received the specialized support he needed to obtain a quality education. But Bernstein says he also had to decide not to allow obstacles such as blindness stand in the way of learning.

"As a blind person, you have to work four times as hard as a sighted person to get the same things done," he said. "I think what happens when you're disabled is you don't have a choice. You just do it."

Bernstein's academic achievement won him admission to the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude and admission to the Phi Beta Kappa honors fraternity.

This would not win Bernstein admission into law school, however. He refused to take the Law School Admission Test, which he argues is biased against blind because in part, it relies on a student's ability to solve problems using charts, diagrams and graphs.

Applying to several of the nation's top law schools, he knew he was in for a fight.

"You know, I can't stand politicians who say they're going to fight for you on this issue or that," he said, drawing an analogy.
"Sitting down for a cup of tea in Lansing and then wandering over to the Capitol to vote on a bill is not a fight. I can tell you what a fight is."

Bernstein immersed himself in one. For more than a year, he researched the LSAT, queried admissions officers, sought allies and built a case against what he described as shortsighted admissions policies.

Eventually, he convinced the Northwestern University School of Law to admit him based on his academic record, extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation.

Today, Bernstein continues advocacy for university policies waiving the LSAT requirement for blind applicants.

Day to day, and then some

As a rule, lawyers don't file briefs in Braille.

So, as he did in college and law school, Bernstein must rely on sighted people to read information to him. And not just once, but as many as 10 or more times.

"Before I go into court, I have to commit the entire case file to memory," Bernstein explained.

Before each case he tries, he must also visit the courtroom to memorize how it is laid out and determine what, if any, obstacles he'll need to avoid.

Finally, like any lawyer, Bernstein must develop effective legal strategies. But unlike most attorneys, he can not rely on notes and documents to keep him on track.

"Since I don't use notes, since I'm working solely from memory, I present the case as a narrative," Bernstein explained. "I'm telling a story when I speak to a jury."

Despite the considerable amount of work he must invest in each of his cases, Bernstein offers his services pro bono about 50 percent of the time. Most of this work involves getting special education students the services they're entitled to.

Bernstein's greatest contribution to the special education community, however, came after a fight he and other advocates waged against proposed reorganization of the state's special education system last year.

"There's only one thing you can say about (Gov. John) Engler, and that's that he's a bully," Bernstein said.
He explained that Engler proposed placing all special education students, regardless of their disability or age, in the same classes. What's more, changes in the system would put no restrictions on special education class sizes.
"That's draconian. He was proposing putting a 16-year-old blind person in the same classroom with the same teacher as a 6-year-old with autism and as a 12-year-old with severe multiple disabilities," Bernstein said.

"It's barbaric. He wanted to warehouse special education children. I can tell you, I never would have become a lawyer under that kind of system."

Laurie O'Meara, a Roseville resident and parent of a severely multiply disabled son, said she first saw Bernstein argue against the measure in Novi. His public hearing appearance was just one of many efforts Bernstein made to sideline the governor's proposal.

"This wasn't a whiny parent looking to get some extras for their kid and it wasn't just another special education teacher trying to lobby for more resources," she said. "This was a successful blind man with a law degree arguing that they were going to take away everything that helped him become a lawyer."

O'Meara quickly realized she and other special education advocates had a powerful ally in the fight against the proposed changes. She contacted Bernstein and, with others, they assembled a wide-reaching grass-roots campaign.

The group eventually enlisted the help of state Sen. Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat, who drafted legislation seeking to protect the status quo in state special education programming. This, combined with sustained public outcry, thwarted the proposed changes.

"In large part it was because Richard didn't sleep," said Ken Reid, president of the Macomb Intermediate Federation of Teachers and a special education teacher at Glen Peters School in Macomb Township.

He added that without Bernstein's enthusiasm, things might have turned out differently.

"His passion is obvious. When you spend a couple of minutes with him, it's clear," Reid said.

The next step

Bernstein said his fight for the disabled is far from over.

"The reason I'm running for Wayne State (University) Board of Governors is because I want to mobilize this group and show that we are a strong political force. I need a public office to do that," he said.

Bernstein noted there are roughly a quarter million students in Michigan's public special education system.

"You have 250,000 children out there, you have half a million parents out there, too. And it doesn't stop there, because they have grandparents and aunts and uncles and neighbors and friends."

Bernstein said he is running for office because he believes students attending the university are being shortchanged by the state, much like special education students would be if they didn't have adequate representation.

"Because Wayne State gets half the funding U-M and MSU do, Wayne State's situation is analogous to the special education fight," he said.

"These are people who work full time to attend school simply because they value it that much. This is the community I want to represent."

Bernstein said serving on the WSU Board of Governors and host of "Making a Difference" on local television and radio stations would not take time away from his work as a trial attorney.

"Ultimately, they're all priorities, so I'm going to get it done."

Bernstein, who is running as a Democrat in the Nov. 5 election, faces opposition from Republican candidates Diane L. Dunaskiss of Lake Orion and Andrew G. McLemore Jr. of Detroit as well as from Democrat Leon H. Atchison of Detroit. Several third-party candidates also seek the two, eight-year terms up for election.

© The Daily Oakland Press 2004