Judge David Tatel on Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2024

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Judge David Tatel’s new memoir, Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice, recalls his remarkable legal career. In this episode, Judge Tatel joins Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his experience as a civil rights lawyer, landmark cases he presided over as a federal judge, the challenges his blindness posed, and how he overcame them. Resources: Judge David S. Tatel, Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice (2024) Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].    Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.  Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Judge David Tatel, who recently retired from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit,
0:04.8	has a new book out, Vision, a memoir of Blindness and Justice about his remarkable legal career. career. Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution
0:18.6	Center and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:23.1	The National Constitution Centers a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness
0:28.2	and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:32.1	In this episode, I'm honored to have a conversation with Judge Tatel
0:36.0	about his wonderful book, his career as a civil rights lawyer,
0:40.0	the landmark cases he presided over,
0:42.0	and how he overcame the challenges posed by blindness.
0:46.0	Judge Tatel, it is wonderful to welcome you to the show.
0:50.0	I want to begin by reading a passage from your book.
0:52.0	The writing is so vivid and I want to begin by reading a passage from your book. The writing is so vivid and I want to share it with We The People listeners.
0:57.0	Here you say, I had my vision for so long, I still have vivid visual memories of growing up.
1:05.1	The gray mouse that met its demise and the trap in our pantry, the brown and white cow my
1:10.1	grandfather slaughtered in his butcher shop right in front of me.
1:13.2	My mother's long white palm-mall cigarettes, the gigantic steaming locomotives at Union Station,
1:19.7	Passover saters with my aunts and uncles sitting around my grandparents huge table, the gaudy circus next to the railroad tracks, the model boat with our handmade brass fittings and varnish deck.
1:31.0	El Misti, that toaster.
1:34.2	You're conjuring up images that you remember seeing
1:37.5	from your childhood and capturing them so beautifully.
1:39.7	Tell me about that.
1:40.6	Well, first of all, Jeff, it's a thrill for me to be here with you. You know I've been an admirer of your writing and your books for years and it's thrilling for me, so thank you. Yes, I was diagnosed with this eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa when I was 15 and actually had vision problems basically for all my life.
	...

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