The passing in 2020 of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an immeasurable loss to the Court, as well as to society. This quote of hers, directed to law students and also applicable to all practicing lawyers, is inspirational: “I tell law students… if you are going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, you have a skill—very much like a plumber. But if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself… something that makes life a little better for people less fortunate than you.”
Often it is only after someone dies that their true legacy is appreciated. With the passing of this remarkable lawyer, aspirations to transform and reimagine the profession have been ignited. A 2020 issue of The Conscious Lawyer, co-edited by the magazine’s founder Elaine Quinn, helped light the way, and still serves as an inspiration to all lawyers. The issue was created in collaboration with PISLAP, and was packed with reasons to be hopeful.
Following are highlights of the remarkable contributors to this issue, whose stories were co-edited with the co-founder of PISLAP Peter Gabel.
A highlight of the issue is the contribution of longtime PISLAP member, law professor, mindfulness teacher and racial justice advocate, Rhonda V. Magee who has recently published a book called 'The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness'. In her book she asks the potent question: “What if this difficult time, this moment in which we seem more racially and culturally divided than ever, signifies not the beginning of the end but a profound opportunity for a new beginning?".
Equal Justice Works Fellow and PISLAPer Ross Brockway shares, through the poignant story of Timothy, how child support law is disproportionately punitive in the US saying that "in nearly every possible way, the law sought to make things worse rather than better for Timothy’s family". The Georgia Justice Project helps people like Timothy deal with this by, amongst other things, forming "deep relationships with our clients and their families, such that we become lifelong friends and partners, rather than simply lawyers and clients." Artist and justice advocate, Kim Vanderheiden has created, with Timothy's permission, a beautiful family portrait deepening our ability through image to appreciate the tender humanity of someone that can become unfairly burdened by the law.
This year, inspired in part by Ross's story of Timothy and the work of GJP, PISLAP submitted a policy proposal to the 2020 Democratic Party Platform Committee pushing for radical changes to US Child Support Laws. We publish the proposal in full in this issue.
Other wonderful contributions from different parts of the world include a call for an exciting new field of legal practice called Positive Green Criminology from Femke Wijdekop in The Netherlands; a spacious invitation and enquiry about connecting with our deep feelings of care for nature from Barry Lee in Ireland; advocating for the broader responsibility of business towards our collective wellbeing from John Montgomery in the US; a rich dive into the work of Earth Jurisprudence in Africa from Carlotta Byrne of the UK Gaia Foundation; an aspirational prayer for law to be recognised and practised as the vocation of service it really is from Jenipher Jones in the US; and truly inspiring news of an ongoing project in The Netherlands to reimagine the design of the courtroom from Wikke Monster.
Supporting and infusing all of these are brilliant images. Special mention goes to UK barrister Dave Neitawho has shared a selection of his thought-provoking 'lockdown cartoons'.
Many of us advocating for a more conscious approach to law are familiar with the oft-disillusioning feeling of being the dissenter, the minority view. RBG also said “Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.’ But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow.” It can help to imagine that maybe we are occupying the important role of advocating "not for today, but for tomorrow." Something to continue to give us succour for the journey ahead.