S P E C I A L F E A T U R E A u t h o r : M i c h a e l S . H o o k e r – P h e l p s D u n b a r L L P continued from page 18
Q
A that was a big deal then . It was then , before I was 10 , maybe 11 , I knew I wanted to be a federal judge .
I understand that times were rather tough for you and your family back then .
Yes , they were hard . There was no one I knew who had gone to college in my neighborhood . It was a bluecollar neighborhood , and we were , due to my dad ’ s circumstances , on some form of government assistance through my teen years . My father was completely blind in both eyes . Back then there were very few opportunities for individuals with
Sketch of Judge Badalamenti ’ s argument in front visual disabilities . The church of the Supreme Court of the United States . helped us with food each week , and the Catholic school I attended had
Broward County , went right from there to UF and a scholarship for me and my sisters to go there . In got my bachelor ’ s , master ’ s , and law degrees there , exchange , we each had chores to do . I would have mostly on academic scholarships and graduate to clean chalkboards and bang out the erasers . school teaching and research assistantships .
There were ways in which the community helped each other , and that got instilled in me at a young Q You certainly have had a varied career since then , age –– that “ it ’ s not about you , it ’ s about others .” In starting out with the Department of Justice working the summer between my seventh and eighth grade with the Federal Bureau of Prisons , followed by two year , we moved in with my grandfather in Broward County . Then I attended public high school in continued on page 20
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