Publius Symposium with Judge David Tatel: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice

Name: Publius Symposium with Judge David Tatel: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice
Start: 2025-02-20T17:00:00-08:00
End: 2025-02-20T19:30:00-08:00
Location: @ Stanford: Paul Brest Hall

February 20 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm PST
@ Stanford: Paul Brest Hall

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The New York Times calls Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice “a winning memoir that recounts the remarkable career of a civil rights lawyer who succeeded Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the nation’s second most powerful court.” Inspired to attend law school by the idealism of the 1960s, Judge Tatel spent the first chapter of his career pursuing voting rights, school desegregation, and other critical issues both in and out of government, and then three decades deciding cases and legal issues that define our generation—all while completely blind.

Losing his sight gradually, Judge Tatel writes about how he spent decades denying the implications of his blindness. He walked into many walls and stumbled over countless curbs before finally getting a white mobility cane, and he waited until age 77 before getting a guide dog, a German shepherd named Vixen, who “changed my life.” All along the way, Judge Tatel broke barriers—in the courtroom, on the ski slopes, and just about everywhere else.

Vision braids together both threads of Judge Tatel’s story. It explores his commitment to civil rights, fairness, and equal access to justice. It gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the work of federal judges—what they do, how they work, and how his blindness affected his judging. It explores the art of judging through fascinating and important cases, and defines judicial restraint in our constitutional system and the critical role it plays in both judges’ decision-making and the public’s perception of justice. In chapters focusing on the environment and voting rights, Vision levels serious critique at the current Supreme Court and the threat it poses to our democracy.

Finally, Vision is a love story about the Tatel’s sixty-year marriage to Edie and how blindness affects their lives together.

Join us for a conversation with Judge Tatel about his important book. (Rumor has it Vixen may make a guest appearance.) Professors Zachary Price (UC Law SF) and Rabia Belt (SLS) will offer commentary, with Professor Michael McConnell (SLS) moderating.