Portia in the Court: Selected Poems by Pauli Murray and Michelle Lerner as Female Lawyer-Poets

Abstract

It is often said that the world is dictated by strict rules of law rather than equity. In 1973, a movement known as the American law and literature movement appeared. It aimed to change the traditional stereotype of law as a science through connecting it with legal realism, equity, and humanities, including art and literature. Since poetry contributes to enhancing the ethical and moral senses of readers, many American lawyers, who refuse to strip the legal rules of the human feeling, turn to poetry as a way to portray real life. They used poetry as a weapon to articulate injustice, segregations, abuses, and racial discriminations.

This study deals with selected poems of two female American lawyer-poets, Pauli Murray and Michelle Lerner. The study aims at showing how female lawyer-poets have gone, as far as their soul can bear, fighting within the legal system, and how they refuse to be limited to the scrapbooks published on laws, regulations, and court cases. Their goal was to show and address the most challenging legal issues as they kept up with of the legal system and its effects on people. Thus, they spend both their legal and poetic careers trying their best to advocate the poor, the helpless, and the voiceless and help them understand their rights. 

Keywords: law, poetry, female lawyer-poets, Pauli Murray, Michelle Lerner