Vision

A Memoir of Blindness and Justice

By: David S. Tatel

Narrated by: John Lescault, David S. Tatel

A powerful memoir by one of America’s most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers—who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity.

"Moving, thoughtful, and inspiring." —Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy

David Tatel has served nearly 30 years on America’s second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where many of our most crucial cases are resolved—or teed up for the Supreme Court. He has championed equal justice for his entire adult life; decided landmark environmental and voting cases; and embodied the ideal of what a great judge should be. Yet he has been blind for the past 50 of his 80-plus years.

Initially, he depended upon aides to read texts to him, and more recently, a suite of hi-tech solutions has allowed him to listen to reams of documents at high speeds. At first, he tried to hide his deteriorating vision, and for years, he denied that it had any impact on his career. Only recently, partly thanks to his first-ever guide dog, Vixen, has he come to fully accept his blindness and the role it's played in his personal and professional lives. His story of fighting for justice over many decades, with and without eyesight, is an inspiration to us all.

"This memoir of a judge of the country’s second highest court, who has been without sight for decades, goes down like a cool drink on a hot day." —Scott Turow, #1 bestselling author of Suspect

“Deeply moving and packed with wisdom.” —Frank Bruni, New York Times

The courts and their role in democracy...

David Tatel presents a thoughtful, articulate, and nuanced view of the ways the current conservative majority SCOTUS has set aside judicial precedent and created new theories of interpretation which have led to rulings gutting the rights of women and allowing states to enact laws making it harder for many people to vote. His years as a lawyer and judge allowed him direct participation in major civil rights cases. His concern for the lack of sound judicial reasoning by the current SCOTUS is also my concern. Their recent decisions will have profound and far reaching negative consequences for our democracy and our world. We should all be concerned and we should all get more educated, informed and involved in fighting for more fairness and equal protection for everyone.

Wonderful book

I found David Tatel’s book to be completely engaging. It felt both expansive and personable, demonstrating how legal issues and ideas affect individual human lives. Judge Tatel’s intellect, clarity, values, warmth, and humor, appear throughout every chapter.

Do not assume anything about blindness

This work was written in a way I will learn from and treasure. As we’ve heard from a famous basketball coach, “never give up”, David Tatel never gave up.

An excellent story of a great man’s life

Excellent and inspiring on so many levels. Deeply moving while simultaneously educational. An amazing combination

eye opening

I won't pretend I knew much about the judiciary but, Justice Tatel was able to make it to where even a laymen like me can understand. I enjoyed the story from start to finish and if you are at all interested in politics, left or right, you will probably learn from this book. Don't write him off cause he's a "liberal" judge.