The Crystal Gavel
How a family court judge, wounded and nearly broken by childhood trauma, brought compassion and love, wholeness and healing, to those in her courtroom—and to herself.
When Sue Cochrane was appointed to the family court bench in Minneapolis, she was uncomfortable being elevated to a judge’s seat above the people in her courtroom. She felt a deep kinship with those who appeared before her, often poor, some struggling with addiction and domestic violence and abuse, too often intimidated and confused by an unfeeling and unnecessarily complex legal system.
The Crystal Gavel tells the story of Sue’s journey from a childhood marked by poverty, alcoholism, and violence, through her own recovery and healing, to her quest to humanize the courts and to afford all people a genuine and dignified hearing.
It describes how Sue found her voice, recovery, community, and spiritual center; how she created a family and negotiated the demands of career and motherhood with three multi-cultural children; and how, ultimately, she found a way to live fully and joyfully for more than a decade with a terminal diagnosis.
With vivid and unforgettable stories, told with clarity and humor and tremendous generosity of spirit, The Crystal Gavel affirms the power of love to heal our brokenness.
REVIEWS AND PRAISE FOR The Crystal Gavel
“Rarely do I encounter a memoir so powerful and inspiring. Sue’s story reminds us of our potential to awaken through life’s most heartbreaking challenges…and to navigate with compassion, dignity, and grace.”
—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance
“A memoir that crafts exquisite wholeness from the shards of a wounded life. Sue Cochrane's humanity, her healing vision, and her valiant heart will take your breath away.”
—Pavi Mehta, author of Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World's Greatest Business Case for Compassion, a volunteer with ServiceSpace, and co-editor of Daily Good.
“The Crystal Gavel is a kind of miracle: At once profoundly personal and radically social, it offers a vision of transformation within our hearts and in the often-heartbreaking machinery of our legal system.”
—Lon Otto, author of three short fiction collections and the novel The Flower Trade
“Sue Cochrane offers invaluable wisdom and inspiration to legal practitioners of all kinds—and to anyone who simply wishes to live a more joyful, meaningful, and compassionate life. Her poignant and amusing stories from the bench awaken a fresh way of looking at the law and the families who seek aid during difficult times.”
—Ron Ousky, author of The Collaborative Way to Divorce and former president, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
“Sue Cochrane, a family court judge who redeemed an institution that had failed so many, was in some ways the most reluctant and unlikely of heroes. Battered by a set of horrific life circumstances, she managed to keep the jewel in her chest beating. Reading The Crystal Gavel blurs the distinction between gracelessness and grace; all I could see was our better angels.”
– Diana Goetsch, author of This Body I Wore: A Memoir