Open Letter to Judges
by Judge Robert J. Kane

Dear Colleague:

I am an associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. In the fall of 1992, I co-founded Changing Lives Through Literature. Today, Trial Court justices in more than eight Massachusetts District Courts, as well as judges in Texas and Kansas, participate actively in Changing Lives Through Literature. At a CLTL graduation ceremony, Judge Thomas May, a District Court judge, expressed why judges participate in this reading program when he told the assembled graduates that judges, like offenders, profit from the spiritual renewal offered through Changing Lives Through Literature.

This program has been profoundly important to me, both professionally and personally. The reading of books has continued, for me, to be a way to investigate and deliberate upon character and culture through the stories of the rich personalities crafted by authors like James Dickey, John Steinbeck, and Toni Morrison. The program has also provided me with a continuing faith in the human struggle for mastery and achievement shown by so many of the graduates of this program. As a result of sitting around tables for the last ten years, discussing literature with surprising offenders, I remain an optimist who continues to believe that I can be vitally involved in the important work of lifting up the lives of those who have strayed from their social and moral obligations.

Finally, let me offer words of assurance to those of you who may be concerned about informal contact with offenders. Through the use of proper protocols arranged by a probation officer or other court official, offenders can be sensitized to the need not to engage in any conversation regarding court-related matters.

I remain available to speak to any judge who is interested in discussing the reasons for participating in this program.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Kane
Justice of the Superior Court