no need for this inspirational bullshit.

That is awesome!

**Job García Hurtado, the young blind man who is a judge**

The magistrate Job García Hurtado, circulates by a corridor of the Court of Work of Santiago, after the interview in his office. ONELIO DOMÍNGUEZ / LD


Wanda Mendez


Santiago, RD

In order to impart justice, Job Garcia Hurtado did not need a hearing, because despite having a disability, he managed, through sacrifice and perseverance, to enter the judiciary as the first blind person.

After trying without success to be a public defender, he was motivated to enter the Judicial Branch, which he achieved by passing the tests given in the opposition competition of the National School of the Judiciary.

García Hurtado had to break down barriers and stigmas in order to demonstrate that lack of vision is not a limiting factor to advance.

"We people with disabilities are a minority who have to fight with our environment, and many times with our family because many people (blind) could not do anything because the family prevented them wanting to protect her," says Garcia Hurtado, 34.

He believes that as a judge he is required to do more and that there are people who have questioned themselves, as they have done, to a lesser degree, with the two blind public defenders. He says the judge is in a leading position in a court, being the focus of attention as he directs the hearing.

He states that the person has to be independent and fight for what he wants, being persistent until he achieves his goals.

"We always use, even if you don't say so, the desire to want to demonstrate one and want to demonstrate to others," he says.

He understands that the family is very important for school inclusion, as well as the individual's own desire to learn, and how he takes it in terms of spaces that have not been designed for people with disabilities, and the number of students who are accepted in a classroom.

**Vocation for the law**

He always wanted to study law, but he didn't focus on the judiciary because he analyzes that human beings tend to pigeonhole themselves in what has been done. That's why he chose public defender because there were already two other blind people. "I tried to enter that contest, and it was a great disappointment because I could not prove my knowledge because I could not pass the psychometric, I lived a time of mourning for that loss," he says.

As time passed, a friend encouraged him to participate in the contest for justice of the peace, to which he applied without any expectation, for the disappointment he had in the public defender.

"When I passed the psychometric, things changed, and it was already a matter of a challenge that I had ahead of me, I had to do it in the best way and I did not remain to lament", she emphasized.

He finally entered the judiciary school in June 2014, where he graduated.

His first official appointment was as a justice of the peace in Monte Cristi, but he did not go for the needs in Santiago, where he was offered to be an itinerant judge, a position he decided to accept.

He was appointed in the penal area, but then had the option to choose in the labor court, so he serves as itinerant justice of the peace in the labor court of Santiago, where he replaces when there is no incumbent. Occasionally, he has worked on the liquidation of files to avoid default.

The number of files he knows depends on the needs he has to meet.

**How do you work?**

For the knowledge of the cases, during the hearing the secretary is assisted, who says, has public faith and complements it. Outside the courtroom, he or she relies on an assistant attorney, especially for those things he or she cannot do.

"I wouldn't be able to read a document that is on paper, it should be on digital to read it, so I ask him what I want to know about the document because the scanners are there and they are made but that's not all," she says.

He also specifies that in this type of area he needs to know if a document has a stamp or not as if a letter is stamped, in short, graphic things that he needs to know.

The magistrate usually wears dark glasses, which he preferred to wear during the interview at his office in the Palacio de Justicia in Santiago, which caught my attention, so I asked him why at the end of the conversation.

The magistrate explained that the first reason is that the light bothers him, and the second, for aesthetic reasons, due to the fact that at times he cannot control the movements of his eyes. He also wears glasses in court.

Garcia Hurtado manages very well in his work environment, without needing much help. He uses his work tools, puts on his robe and cap, goes to the bathroom and audience room behind the office, and takes the stand without asking for help. At one point during the interview, he asked his assistant to provide him with a cell phone charger, realizing that his device had been turned off.

**LEARN MORE**

Comes from a humble family

**Origin**

He was born on June 22, 1984, in Santiago. He grew up in the Gregorio Luperón extension. Son of Pedro Juan García (deceased) and Juana Hurtado. He was orphaned at the age of four.

**Studies**

He graduated law in 2011 and judge in 2016.

**Disability**

He lost his vision at the age of three, due to atrophy of the optic nerve and retinitis.

Cool. Send this to the NFB LOL

I'm sure they'll use it in one of their conference keynotes.

And meanwhile all across the world, there are hundreds/thousands of blind people doing similar shit who hardly get this kind of PR. Fuck this selective publishing.