THE PROJECT FOR INTEGRATING SPIRITUALITY, LAW & POLITICS

This is a bit different from my usual design law posts (actually, a lot different), to introduce you to an organization I have belonged to for many years – the Project for Integrating  Spirituality, Law & Politics (PISLAP).

News and social media sources have been filled recently with news of the passing of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Often it is only after someone dies that their true legacy is appreciated. Maybe with the passing of this remarkable lawyer, aspirations to transform and reimagine the profession are being ignited. This quote of RBG’s stands out:  “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.”  

In a nutshell, that is what PISLAP is all about.

A new edition of The Conscious Lawyer, published by Elaine Quinn in London, and produced in collaboration with PISLAP and co-edited by PISLAP co-founder Peter Gabel, has just come out. The issue contains a wonderful diversity of subjects, from Ross Brockway's excellent article about the Georgia Justice Project's visionary representation of a client trapped in the maze of punitive child support laws, to Femke Widjekop's hopeful description from Holland of the new and healing "green criminology," to Jenipher Jones's discussion of the consciousness-elevation of Contemplative Lawyering, to Elaine's thoughtful review of Rhonda Magee's recent book The Inner Work of Racial Justice….all PISLAP members!

Please do read the issue, share it with friends, and consider joining PISLAP as a member and become part of a group whose influence and membership is expanding towards building a new and more humane and caring legal system.