MUNICIPAL JUDGE Ed Spillane is a listener. I mean that he’s not the type to dominate a conversation upon meeting him. The casual observer might think he’s a quiet man, but that’s not accurate.
I first met him in court as a defendant many years ago when I was a college student. I later became acquainted with him as a colleague when I was a city employee for a brief time. Only then, did I begin to understand how his mind works. I’ll never fully understand that, but I can only wish more like him are out there making life-altering decisions in the name of justice.
Spillane has written extensively about indigent defense and the wrong approaches to criminal cases that fill our system. Then, I was fascinated to read about his experience with yoga and meditation… and mindfulness.
Here’s a piece he wrote recently that’s worthy of a few minutes:
https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/meditative-judge
Charlie Haldeman 