The 57 Bus
The 57 Bus
by Dashka Slater

Sujatha Baliga Character Analysis

The “foremost expert on restorative justice” in the United States. Sujatha refuses to “peddle” restorative justice, and she is never formally called to weigh in on Richard’s case, but she believes Sasha and Richard are ideal candidates for the program. “All of them are such gorgeously enlightened, beautiful people,” she says.

Sujatha Baliga Quotes in The 57 Bus

The The 57 Bus quotes below are all either spoken by Sujatha Baliga or refer to Sujatha Baliga. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender and Sexuality Theme Icon
).

Part 4: Restorative Justice Quotes

“RJ isn’t a guarantee of leniency,” Baliga cautioned. “It’s about dispensing with punitiveness for its own sake and trying to produce an outcome that will be more healing for everyone involved.”

Still, Baliga knew that there was little hope of diverting Richard from the criminal justice system entirely. “Given the severity of the harm to Sasha, we didn’t expect that the DA would allow the case to be diverted to restorative justice,” she said.

But if anyone seemed right for restorative justice, it was these two families, who had already expressed compassion for one another. “They were perfect candidates for this dialogue,” she said. “All of them were such gorgeously enlightened, beautiful people.”

Related Characters: Sujatha Baliga (speaker), Richard, Sasha, Jasmine, Debbie, Karl
Page Number and Citation: 241
Explanation and Analysis:
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Sujatha Baliga Character Timeline in The 57 Bus

The timeline below shows where the character Sujatha Baliga appears in The 57 Bus. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 4: Restorative Justice
Discrimination and Social Justice Theme Icon
Accountability, Redemption, and Forgiveness Theme Icon
Sujatha Baliga, “the nation’s foremost expert on restorative justice,” has been aware of Richard’s case from... (full context)
Accountability, Redemption, and Forgiveness Theme Icon
...own sake,” and instead “produces an outcome that will be more healing for everyone involved.” Sujatha is not hopeful that Richard will be offered restorative justice “given the severity of the... (full context)