Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice

by David S. Tatel

A 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. 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.  

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Politics, Law, Biography, Biography Memoir, History

325 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 11, 2024

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful uplifting story. Judge Tatel was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa about the time he turned 16. Eventually, he became totally blind but he never let that limit who he was or what he could do. And that's only part of the story.
He became a lawyer who fought for the underdog. That is until President Bill Clinton appointed him a Judge, a position he held for 30 years. He was diligent and conscientious about following the law, not his opinions. (He acknowledged that some of his decisions are now being overturned by the present Supreme Court e.g. Chevron).
But still, that's only part of the story. His adaptations for his lack of vision changed over the course of his life, coming belatedly to a white cane and then finally, only 4 years ago, a guide dog. (This part is especially endearing because he did not have an affinity for dogs and the way people lived with them.
I encourage all to read this man's story. (I was well into the story when I saw him interviewed on MSNBC's The Eleventh Hour.)

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have nothing but respect for judge Tatel. He has been a towering mind on the DC circuit court for years. I remember being in his courtroom sometime in 2005 2006 on a case where I had helped on the briefing but wasn’t arguing. That was the first time I knew that he was blind. But he also seem to have all the parties briefs memorized. I enjoyed learning about his career as a civil rights lawyer, and how he navigated the delicate balance between being himself and not wanting to be seen as the “blind lawyer” or the blind judge. my quibbles with this book are approach. It was clearly meant for a general audience, not lawyers, which is fine, but I think that when he got into discussing his issues with current Supreme Court cases and judicial philosophy, his interest in presenting things to a general audience unfairly obscured some of the true legal issues in those cases. For example, he references 303 creative and said it allowed a website designer to discriminate against gay people, but the actual holding was much more limited because, right or wrongly, Colorado had agreed and stipulated facts that the website designer would accept work from all people, including gay people, but that she would not design an expressive website for a marriage. That is differentthan refusing to design a business website without any message – it was a first amendment case Also I do think there is more room for disagreement with the non-delegation doctrine, and how specific Congress has to grant its authority in order for an agency to make rules. Which is why I agree with judge Tatel, that particular matter was definitely within EPA under the clean air act, but climate change regulation is not. Of course, I also greatly enjoyed hearing the story of how Judge title acquired his guide, dog vixen, definitely proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks. He is a great American and I definitely recommend this memoir. I did this review via voice to text, and unlike judge Tatel I don’t have 50 years experience doing this so apologies for the typos and grammatical errors.

[Joseph Kratz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A refreshingly honest but not cynical judicial memoir that gives me a lot to aim to live like

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is an interesting book that shows a behind the scenes view of how the Court of Appeals works and how Tatel dealt with his vision loss. I mostly wanted to read this because of his blindness and his service dog. But the background of his whole professional career was fascinating.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest, I bought this book because of the cover. I loved the law with a dog picture and was sold. I didn’t know who Tatel was, but after reading this, I am so glad for this cover buy. Tatel covers his time as a civil rights lawyer and then as a judge on the US Court of Appeals in DC. It was enlightening and surprisingly honest and didn’t shy away from calling out some of the poorer decisions made by the courts. His respect for the law and drive for justice and equality shows through in all he did. Through it all he battled with the truth of his blindness which again, was surprisingly honest.

[Julia Chenoweth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a slog for me. Most of it was legal discussions convincing us on how the author was on the right side of history. I loved the personal aspects of his story but they were less frequent than I had anticipated.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

This was one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Too often people write memoirs without having a clear grasp on their own story, so they rely on gimmicks or try to formulate meaning around a dozen random anecdotes. Justice Tatel, however, delivers the story of his life and career in such a compelling, clear, and complete way. The majority of the novel was chronological highlights of his upbringing, education, career & family life; while the last few chapters summarized a few anachronistic events.

What a time to be a young lawyer and civil servant! Tatel lived through some of the most tumultuous decades of American history and his career led him to the front lines of dozens of very important civil rights and environmental cases. Tatel has a profound respect for the field of law and the sanctity of the judiciary, and his accounts of the legal system both 50 years ago and today equally intrigue and terrify me.

I’ve always had an almost religious-like reverence for the ideals of our justice system. Judges take an oath to rule without bias, to the best of their ability, on each case they hear. Watching the Supreme Court become more politicized over the past decade has made me question if I was naive to believe that the people within this man-made system could ever actually be impartial, but Tatel’s story has restored some of my faith that the system can work and its sanctity is worth saving. I take my LSAT in 4 days and I’m excited to be a lawyer one day!

[J aime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, excellent human, and good doggie!
Very much recommend listening to the audiobook so you can hear the author’s voice at the beginning and end. And Vixen gets a quick word in at the very very end.
I wish i could remember who recommended this book to me so i could thank them. I was not sure it was something i would be interested in, but this is a great book.
Judge Tatel is a grounded person telling us about his life. His eyesight started to dim from an early age and his mom was given the suggestion to enroll him in a basket weaving course so he could still have job prospects.
I love that he became a Judge. I love that he could ski and run marathons while blind. I love that he fought for civil rights and rights of people who have physical challenges all while denying that he has any. It is so human and relatable. And I love his unexpected love for Vixen, the beautiful German Shepard on the cover of the book. And I love the love story of his family.
It is not a big part of his memoir but his friendship with RBG was also an unexpected perk of the book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by a review of this book about a respected judge recently retired from the second highest court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It is an interesting behind the scenes look at the life of a justice, but what makes the book appealing is Tatel's comments about his blindness and how it took him so many years to come to terms with it -- he finally got a Seeing Eye Dog in 2019 but wishes he had done it years earlier. Like so many of us, he tried to hide his disability thinking if people knew he was blind they would not take him seriously of think less of him. A lot of the book is about cases Tatel worked on, particularly those that have been reversed by today's Supreme Court. Not surprisingly he feels strongly that they are not making good decisions.

[Jody Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read about the inner workings of the DC Circuit Court. He shares his insights of serving on many well known cases but he also writes about his family life, his struggles with accepting his blindness, and the many ways he adapts. He admitted he didn't always get it right but the lengths he would go to, to learn all he could about both sides of a case are truly admirable. He served his country integrity and his blindness may have helped him be even a bit more unbiased because after all justice should be blind.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had two reasons for rushing to purchase this book. First, I'm a legal junkie, listening to podcasts and reading books about American law--processes and challenges. Second, both my grandfathers lost their sight in their 50s. One of the two grandfathers had his life vastly improved by guide dogs--three over the course of 30 years. This book ticked the boxes for me. While it isn't a riveting read for most (i assume), it was just right for me at just the right time. I appreciate Tatel's willingness (as a retiree) to be completely up-front about how he views the current United Sates Supreme Court.

[Julia Schreder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insights into the current state of the Supreme Court and Judge Tatel's story. We at UChicago ACS had the pleasure of hosting Judge Tatel to discuss the book during a lunch talk; I can confirm that he is as lovely and impressive in person as he comes across in the book. And, since I have had the honor of meeting Vixen, it was amazing to read about how their relationship came to life. That is one smart dog!

[Christie Bane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ALMOST gave this five stars. I thought it would be mostly about blindness, and there was plenty about blindness, but that wasn't the best part. The best part was the stories about constitutional law cases from the author's long career as a federal judge. I almost went to law school back in 2001, but decided against it and became an "armchair lawyer" instead. So I'm still very fascinated with legal practice of all kinds, and this book was extra fascinating because it covered both one of my fantasy careers and components of my real one. One interesting thought: the author waited until he was retired to get his first guide dog (a German shepherd named Vixen from Fidelco), and I wonder how his life would have been different if he had gotten one sooner? I know things work out how they're supposed to be, but I just wonder.

[Dodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed Vision, Judge David Tatel's memoir of maneuvering through work and personal life while gradually going blind. A big chunk of the book discusses legal cases and the relevant political issues associated with them; for me that was the least interesting part of the book. Tatel has difficulty coming to terms with his blindness publicly and fears being underestimated. He fudges his way through all kinds of activities without admitting his disability. When he finally gets a service dog, it is life changing. He has a new kind of independence. This is a book of hope and encouragement.

[Marika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come.

*I read an advance copy and was not compensated.

[Joshua John · Rating 4 out of 5]

tatel’s book is an awesomely vulnerable and passionate piece on a judge, lawyer, and advocate who’s journey through life has been colored by his blindness.

while i did enjoy the first parts of the book, i felt like something was missing when tatel would cover his early experiences as a lawyer. many of his claims jumped to conclusions about the supreme court that im skeptical of, often providing no support for why he made those claims in the first place. also early in the book, i wished for more legally-focused thinking rather than stating political positions regarding his cases and his views of other lawyers. thankfully, this was completely remedied in the latter half.

i enjoyed particularly the latter half of the book where he detailed his experience judging, methodology creating opinions, his criticism of the law clerk hiring process, and how his blindness affected the process of all of it. i appreciate his judicial philosophy of judicial conservatism and restraint. as someone who knows next to nothing about blindness and tatel’s particular disability, i definitely learned a lot! i enjoyed reading about his family, his law clerks, his readers, his braille computer, and generally how his blindness affects lives around him too.

on his experience judging, the sheer depth in which he wrote about cases from environment to voting rights to net neutrality was astounding. here, the depth with which he addressed the differences between his judicial philosophy and the justices on the supreme court was commendable and made up for any lack of info provided for claims made toward the beginning of the book.

all in all, i enjoyed this book very much especially the latter half!

[Melissa]

I heard him on the Strict Scrutiny podcast. Fuck the Supreme Court and their complete lack of judicial restraint and their disrespect for stare decisis. I can’t wait for Alito & Thomas to die and go straight to hell where they belong. It’ll take longer for the ghouls Gorsuch, Cavanaugh, and Barrett to die and go to hell, unfortunately. They are horrible people and they deserve all the worst. This author is cool, though. Of course, he retired so that Biden could replace him, unlike that fucking stupid POS Ginsburg, who couldn’t hold the fuck on for another 3 months. And Biden screwed us in much the same way with his refusal to retire. What happens next is all these people’s fault and I won’t forget it.

[b (tobias forge's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my work book club. I'm not overly interested in the nuts and bolts of legal cases, nor do I enjoy spending my leisure reading time thinking about the Trump-era Supreme Court, so I greatly preferred the sections about Tatel's upbringing, family, and coping with blindness... Including getting his guide dog! (For someone who warns the reader that he talks way too much about his dog, he really could stand to talk more about his dog, just saying.)

The passage about reading talking books and sharing them with his family made me cry. Have I mentioned yet today how much I love the NLS and think it's an amazing program?

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

It turns out I like memoirs, if they are about interesting people. Judge Tate is incredibly interesting and very accomplished. I loved hearing his take on life, his blindness, family, and most importantly the judicial system. The physical book includes a candid shot with Vixen taken by Edie; the audiobook wraps up with a bark from Vixen and the prologue & axknowkedgemts are read by the author
🎧

[Melanie Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was as intrigued by the justice’s personal journey with disability as I was with his review of case law. I was riveted by the stories of his work in education and voting laws. His view on the role of the courts was refreshing and so interesting to hear his takes on some of the court cases being reviewed at the Supreme Court. Mixed in were his very human stories of living with a disability and the impact it had on his life.
I highly recommend this book.

[Derek Ouyang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come for the chapter about Vixen, stay for a profound reflection on shame becoming responsibility.

[Evelyn Petschek · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring memoir of an exceptional civil rights lawyer and judge. Yet despite his legal brilliance, he spent years coming to grips with, and accepting, his own blindness. Great audio narration.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is truly inspirational. Tatel was diagnosed as a teenager with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease that is likely to cause blindness (my grandmother was blind from RP). He spent a large part of his life in denial about his declining vision, wanting to be seen for what he did rather than for something others considered a disability. The book combines his coming to terms with blindness, his amazing career as a civil rights attorney then a judge, plus a beautiful love and family story. Then, of course, there is the incredible dog on the cover.

[Bea Krauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that sheds light on the art and science of judging, and on the personal struggle to adapt to and own a disability. There are provocative chapters on the current Supreme Court and the basis of its decisions. There are heart-warming chapters on the support of a multi-generational family, assistants, and law clerks......and, at last, the life-changing dog Vixen. If you weren't a fan of dogs and technology, this book shows they have a clear life-affirming place.

[Majel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful read. As a lawyer who spent her entire career working for the federal judiciary, I loved hearing Judge Tatel’s stories of time on the bench. But the chapter about his dog and how he fell in love with her did me in!!

[Brian Tsui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a vision problem of my own, and I have been eagerly awaiting this book ever since I heard of Judge Tatel in Frank Bruni’s The Beauty of Dusk. It is an understatement to say that Tatel’s memoir has given me renewed energy to charge full steam ahead in my legal career, in spite of my vision issue. Tatel writes that throughout his life, he questioned whether speaking out about his blindness would help others. I’m glad he did so in such a grand way now, even if he may have been ashamed to do so earlier in his life, through such an intimate and detailed memoir. His writing is warm, smooth, well-ordered, and memorable. I will be sure to revisit this memoir time and again throughout my life.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. I happen to work for another vision-impaired federal judge-- not Judge Tatel. When I told “my” Judge about this book and its author, he told me that he and Judge Tatel go way back to their Chicago days. Indeed, Judge Tatel writes about his experiences in Chicago as a young lawyer, working on an important project with “another young lawyer,” aka, the man who would become my boss. I loved reading that part!

I was thrilled to read the book and hear Judge Tatel’s stories about his fascinating life, his well-respected judicial career, and how he copes with the challenges of blindness. The book delivers the goods. (And, unsurprisingly, it’s very well-written.)

[Meghan Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

[Lydia Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more than I did but found it repetitive and dull.

[Andrea Segura · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I picked up this book to read about his journey with blindness, his legal memoir was fascinating. I learned so much about civil rights and how the judicial system works. Yes, I read the book in one day I was so engrossed.