Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former Federal Judge David Tatel discussed their new books and the value of being open about their experiences with disabilities Thursday in Dorothy Marvin Betts Theatre.
Sotomayor discussed her new children’s book “Just Shine!” which centers on the evolution of her relationship with her mother, while Tatel discussed his memoir “Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice” about how he came to terms with his blindness throughout his career as a lawyer and judge. Nina Totenberg, a legal affairs correspondent for NPR, moderated the conversation, which was hosted by GW in collaboration with local bookstore Politics and Prose.
Sotomayor, who has written five children’s books, said “Just Shine!” was inspired by her mother’s recent passing. She said she spent almost half of her life angry at her mother for leaving her alone while she worked long hours but realized after her mother died that she had taught her how to be herself. She said the book reflects lessons her mother taught her that she had not given her enough credit for, like many children do with their parents.
“Children are following your example, and so to the extent that you’re reading this book and asking them to think about others, you have to model that too,” Sotomayor said to parents in the audience. “My mother did it for me in such a special way, and this is what this book is about.”
Both Sotomayor, who has type 1 diabetes, and Tatel discussed the emotional value of being open about their disabilities and letting those around you help when you need it.
Tatel, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. for 30 years, said his book reflected his struggle to feel comfortable with his blindness. He said for years he refused to tell people about his disability out of shame even as he started losing his sight in adolescence. He said after decades of working as a judge, he realized his disability did not define him to others, which allowed him to open up about his blindness after years of hiding it.
“I became confident that people viewed me not as a blind judge but as a judge who happened to be blind,” Tatel said. “That gave me a huge amount of personal confidence.”
Tatel also discussed the transformative effect his guide dog Vixen — a German Shepherd who sat by his feet during the talk — had on his life by allowing him to do more on his own, like use public transportation without another person. He said after years of only using a cane, Vixen gave him a degree of independence he had never enjoyed before and took some of the caretaking burden off of his wife, whom he has been married to for 60 years.
Sotomayor said she related to Tatel’s struggles with opening up about his blindness due to her experience with type 1 diabetes because she also felt shame about asking for help. She said over time, she learned to accept help from loved ones when she experienced difficulties, like blood sugar lows, because she realized their offers were a sign of love.
She also credited a culture of open dialogue about disabilities in the world now as opposed to when she was growing up, with giving her the confidence to speak up about her struggles with diabetes.
“The world is much more open and much more encouraging, thankfully, of people in terms of understanding that differences are not bad, differences just are and that all of us incorporate them,” Sotomayor said.
Totenberg then asked Tatel about the part of his book where he said he retired from the bench last year because he was tired of having his work reviewed by a Supreme Court that held the legal principles he has dedicated his life to “in such low regard.”
“It was one thing to follow rulings that I believe were wrong when they resulted from a process I respected,” Tatel said. “It was quite another to be bound by the decisions of an institution I barely recognized.”
Tatel commended Sotomayor for her powerful dissents on decisions from the court. He said the decisions of the conservative majority on the court are “eroding” the capacity of the federal government to protect the health and safety of Americans and had steadily increased the court’s own power at the expense of the other two branches of government.
Sotomayor said she continues to stay on the court despite often not siding with the majority because the Supreme Court has the power to set precedent that lower courts must follow. She said she feels obligated — even if her colleagues do not agree with her — to use her platform on the highest court to write what she thinks is right.
She said in addition to her work on the court, she is passionate about civic education of young people and has devoted her free time to visiting schools to encourage children to learn about their government. She said children need to not only understand the structures of government but why those structures exist and what they risk losing with the erosion of democratic institutions.
“The mistakes we’re making today as adults are going to change your lives, and if we’re going to change your lives and you don’t like what we’re doing, you need to figure that out early and figure out how you can get together as kids and make sure that the world is better than what we’re leaving you with,” Sotomayor said.
