10 Questions With: The Honorable Randall M. Howe

The Honorable Randall M. Howe

Judge at Arizona Court of Appeals

1. How did you choose a career in law?

I was an avid (and probably annoying) history buff as a kid, and it seemed to me that anyone who did anything in history – especially Abraham Lincoln – was a lawyer. I didn’t know what it meant to be a lawyer, but that never deterred me from wanting to be one. When I enrolled in Arizona State University as an undergraduate, the guidance counselor asked what I was going to do with a history degree. I answered I was going to go to law school. She asked what I was going to do if I didn’t go to law school; I answered that I was going to go to law school. After much back and forth, she persuaded me to change my degree to business administration. I learned a lot from getting a business degree, but nothing deterred me from becoming a lawyer. I wanted to become a criminal defense lawyer to begin with. I spent a lot of time researching it, learning about things like marketing for defense lawyers. Getting great online reviews was one of the most important things, so I read. I was just so focused on my goal of becoming a lawyer.

2. What challenges did you overcome to get to where you are today?

The primary challenges are having a physical disability and a speech impediment. I grew up in the dark ages of the 1960s and 1970s, before the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights law for people with disabilities. People with disabilities were hidden away and not expected to be active, contributing members of society. Now, disabilities are not seen this way, and people can feel more a part of society, they have access to disability insurance, and if they have any questions about it, such as – What Is Disability Insurance? How Does Disability Insurance Work? Then they can get the relevant answers from the professionals. The fact that my speech impediment made it hard for people to understand me made things even worse. But my parents knew that although my body and speech were damaged by the cerebral palsy, my brain was not, and they worked hard to see that I was mainstreamed in public school at a time when that just wasn’t done. In high school, I had a teacher who forced me to become a member of my speech and debate team, and he worked with me to improve the fluency of my speech.

I came a long way in high school and college to address my speech impediment, but I still did not see myself as capable of being in a courtroom, and no one else did either. I planned on being a transactional attorney in the back room of some law firm. But the law firm that hired me out of law school had financial difficulties and laid me off, and the only job available was in the criminal appeals section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. Nobody questioned whether I could perform in the courtroom; my bosses just gave me cases and expected me to do them. That gave me the confidence to succeed as an appellate lawyer and then, eventually, to become a judge.

3. How did your parents help you along the way?

They raised me without regard to my disability, just like they raised my older brother, who had no disability. They saw to it that I had all the medical care I needed, but they expected me to go to school and get a job and contribute to society, just what they expected from my brother. They were not well-educated, but they knew that education was my ticket to success, so they brought me to Arizona to go to ASU. I was the first person in my immediate family to go to college. I would not be where I am today, or who I am, without their love and support.

4. Communication is critical to your job. How do you overcome the communication challenges that go along with having cerebral palsy?

I admire all the fluent, fast-talking attorneys I have worked with and who have appeared in front of me, but I can’t talk that fast and still be understood. I learned to speak more slowly and distinctly when I argued cases, and no one has had difficulty understanding me if they listen carefully. I could not cover as much ground as my more silver-tongued colleagues, but that made me carefully consider what I should be saying and made me say things as economically as possible. It often worked to my advantage because judges listened more carefully to what I was saying, and they knew I wouldn’t be saying it unless it was important. As a judge, I invite attorneys to repeat me if they don’t understand, and I’m careful to speak slowly and distinctly.

5. What successes are you most proud of?

I am most proud of just having the career I’ve had. Because of my disability and speech impediment, no one would have expected it. More than that, though, not only have I argued cases in all levels of appellate courts that have Arizona in their jurisdiction, in each job I had as an attorney – in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona – my superiors made me a supervisor, and I taught other attorneys how to argue cases on appeal. That, to me, is the best recognition that I was good at my job, despite my disability.

My proudest personal moment, though, was arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court. I – a person with a disability and a speech impediment to boot – argued a case that had an important effect on the laws of the United States. It doesn’t get better than that.

6. Giving back is important to you. What organizations are you involved in that are helping to make a difference for those with disabilities?

I’m currently on the board of directors for United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona. Its motto is “Life Without Limits.” The worst curse of having a disability is the low expectations of other people. As exemplified by its motto, UCP strives to help children with cerebral palsy and other related disabilities succeed as far as their abilities will take them. I’m also on the board of Daring Adventures, which provides for outdoor recreation for people with disabilities, such as hiking, bicycling and other activities. I learned to ride a handcycle with them for the first time in my life at the ripe old age of 39. Again, people generally don’t think people with disabilities can do those things. But they can and do!

7. What do you wish people knew about living with a disability?

That while people with disabilities may have difficult physical or intellectual obstacles, they are people just like everyone else, living life as everyone else. We are often held up as objects of inspiration for doing ordinary things, like buying groceries. But we have to eat, and the groceries aren’t just going to walk themselves into our houses just because we have a disability.

8. What’s the most difficult challenge you still face?

Being underestimated. People who don’t know me and what I do for a living and see my crutch and hear my speech impediment think I’m not all there and talk to my friends and companions instead of me. You’d be surprised the number of times people assisting me at the airport when I travel ask my girlfriend if I need to use the restroom. Her response: “I don’t know. You should ask him.”

9. How can readers help make a difference for those with disabilities?

Treat them as people first. Offer them help if they seem to need it, but don’t be surprised (or offended!) if they refuse. I have a hard time on occasion opening doors; if you offer to open the door, I’ll almost always take you up on your offer.

10. You’ve been a huge advocate for advancing inclusion. How does Arizona fare in that regard?

As far as being disability-friendly, it fares well. That’s why I’m here. Things are warm and flat here, and the buildings and facilities are almost always accessible. I grew up in Colorado, and while it’s a beautiful state, snow and mountains make getting around by myself rather hard. And because Arizona’s climate and infrastructure are friendly to those with disabilities, you see more people with disabilities than in some other states, so people are more open and accepting of disabilities here.