Richmond IONS February 2024 Meeting (February 17) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Sylvia Clute, Richmond-based trial attorney and author, on her recent book, Unitive Justice: Bending the Arc of Justice Toward Love (October 2023).
Where: In person and online. Through ZOOM (Meeting ID: 865 1815 1952, Passcode: 142841) and in person at River Road United Methodist Church, Contemporary Worship Center, 8800 River Road, Richmond, VA 23229.
Richmond IONS February 2024 Meeting
“Unitive Justice: Bending the Arc of Justice Toward Love.”
Our February 17, 2024 program will feature a talk by Sylvia Clute, Richmond-based trial attorney and author, on her recent book, Unitive Justice: Bending the Arc of Justice Toward Love (October 2023).
Unitive Justice introduces a revolutionary concept: Justice as Love, or Unitive Justice, a way to achieve justice without inflicting revenge or seeking retribution. Sylvia, an experienced civil trialattorney, offers a much-needed alternative to the punitive model of justice by setting out fourteen Arcs from punitive justice to Unitive Justice. Of course, Justice system change is no small undertaking.
Justice is not limited to the courts ̶it is all-encompassing and exists to a large extent in our minds. Unitive Justice shows the promise that Justice as Love holds for transforming our justice system and world. It is not a “quick fix” for the brokenness in the world, but it is a start.
It may take many lifetimes to transform a world tethered to dualistic thinking, and yet it can be implemented by one person, in one prison pod, in one family, in one relationship, right now.
The fact that grave injustices have existed for time immemorial is a compelling reason to begin to create small pockets of Unitive Justice wherever we can and to nurture them with all the Love we can muster. Practicing Justice as Love is life-changing, if not life-saving, for many involved.
Sylvia last addressed our group about a decade ago on the subject of Restorative Justice, and this is the next step. Now she will give us insight into the life-changing concept of Unitive Justice and show how it can completely transform the way we approach justice.
Once you experience Unitive Justice, you can no longer believe that punitive justice is the best we can do.
About Our Richmond IONS February 2024 Meeting Presenter:
Sylvia Clute, our Richmond IONS February 2024 meeting presenter brings twenty-eight years as a trial attorney to the undertaking of creating a model of justice with no punitive elements-what she calls Unitive Justice.
This epoch in her life began when her spiritual journey and her work in the courtroom collided, but she had important tools in her toolbox for what lay ahead. A law degree from Boston Univ. and graduate degrees in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Univ. of California/Berkeley bring practical knowledge to her work on cutting-edge policy reform.
She learned of diverse approaches to public policy when she studied in Paris, France, two decades after WWII and served two years in a remote Nepali village during her Peace Corps service. She now serves as President and Exec. Director of the Alliance of Unitive Justice, a nonprofit that offers training and programs on Unitive Justice theory and practice. (www.a4uj.org)
Unitive Justice is applicable in education, corrections, politics and government, spirituality/religion, and leadership-everywhere people come together in community. It is being taught in law schools, and grassroots groups are creating new ways of applying Unitive Justice in diverse settings worldwide.
Sylvia is the author of Beyond Vengeance, Beyond Duality: A Call for a Compassionate Revolution, and a novel, Destiny Unveiled. This book is her seminal work on Unitive Justice theory and practice, the product of 35 years of research and writing, leading to a practical theory of Justice as Love.
About Central VA IONS Community Group:
Central VA IONS Community Group is an unincorporated association and a local community group of The Institute of Noetic Sciences, an international association based in Petaluma, California (www.noetic.org).
We do not promote any religion, religious organization, doctrine or set of beliefs or practices and we are open to all. Central VA IONS entirely depends on voluntary donations of its members and friends to support its programs, mailings and other costs.
We appreciate a love offering at each meeting from those attending who are not dues paying members. Richmond IONS/Central VA IONS meetings take place each month at locations announced in its program notices (currently on Zoom) and are open to all. Our website is at richmondions.com.
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