Accountability, Redemption, and Forgiveness Theme Analysis

After Richard, a young California teenager, assaults Sasha, a local genderqueer high school senior, Richard is charged with two hate crimes and is sentenced to seven years in a state correctional facility. The 57 Bus tells Richard’s story, covering both the events leading up to the senseless attack on Sasha and his subsequent arrest and prosecution. Richard is punished for his crimes to the fullest extent of the law; however, both Sasha and their parents question if this is the most effective approach to justice. Instead of adult sentencing and a lengthy prison stay, Sasha and their parents are more concerned with accountability and forgiveness. When Richard displays honest remorse and takes responsibility for his ugly behavior, Sasha and their parents’ anger begins to soften. Through The 57 Bus, author Dashka Slater argues that accountability and forgiveness are crucial components of rehabilitation, and they indeed prove vital for Richard’s own redemption and the peace of all those involved in his misguided crime. With her nontraditional approach to Richard’s punishment, Slater reasons that traditional incarceration is not necessarily the best method of punishment for underage offenders.

Both Richard and his mother, Jasmine, seek forgiveness for Richard’s attack on Sasha, which is evidence of Richard’s remorse. In the early days of Richard’s incarceration, he writes an apology to Sasha in the form of letter. He begs for Sasha’s forgiveness and takes full responsibility for his actions. “I’ll take all the consequences,” Richard writes. He gives the letter to his lawyer, Bill Du Bois, to mail, but the lawyer stashes the letter in his briefcase. Richard’s letter contains “an admission of guilt,” and his attorney “feels he can’t send it until the case is resolved.” Three days later, Richard writes Sasha a substantially longer letter, in which he again begs for Sasha’s forgiveness. He quotes the Bible and swears he is “not evil” but “actually good.” Richard vows to write Sasha two letters each week and promises to keep them in his prayers, but Richard’s lawyer withholds this letter as well, fearing that it will further incriminate his client. When Richard’s lawyer withholds his letters, he also withholds his apology, hindering Richard’s redemption and Sasha’s acceptance and closure. Jasmine likewise wants to apologize to Debbie, Sasha’s mother, for her son’s behavior. Jasmine wants to tell her “how sorry she is, mother to mother, parent to parent.” When Jasmine and Debbie finally meet months later at Richard’s first hearing, the two women embrace tearfully and each member of Richard’s family hugs Debbie, Sasha, and Karl, Sasha’s father. This example, in addition to Richard’s letters, are proof of the genuine forgiveness Richard and his family seek.

Sasha, Debbie, and Karl want to see Richard held accountable for his crimes; however, they also desire true redemption and meaningful forgiveness, and they aren’t sure that prison is the right environment to achieve this. Both Debbie and Karl are against Richard being tried as an adult, and “they hope the state will focus more on preparing him for the world beyond incarceration than on punishing him.” Furthermore, at Richard’s sentencing nearly a year after Sasha’s attack, Debbie tells the court, “We think that hatred only leads to more hatred and anger. We don’t want [Richard] to come out of prison full of hate.” Lastly, at Richard’s final progress report almost two years after committing his crimes, Karl claims that Richard’s “actions appear to have been impulsive, immature, and unpremeditated. He did make a big mistake and recognizes that. He asked for our forgiveness. […] Sasha, Debbie, and I have forgiven Richard.” In the eyes of Karl, Debbie, and Sasha, Richard has been rehabilitated, and a long stay in an adult prison will do little to enhance his redemption.

Within The 57 Bus, Slater explains the concept of restorative justice, an approach sometimes used in California “as an alternative to criminal court for juveniles accused of felonies,” which underscores her primary argument that teenagers should not necessarily be incarcerated as a form of punishment. With restorative justice, a “family group conference” is facilitated between the offender, the victim, and their families to “talk about what happened, and then make a plan for how the harm can be repaired.” As both Richard and Sasha’s families have begun to repair the harm caused by Richard’s actions, they seem to be reasonable candidates for restorative justice. By way of an example, Slater tells the story of Jeff, TC, and Pancha, three local high school students who become caught up in an “ass smacking” controversy. After Jeff slaps both TC and Pancha on their respective backsides, the school administration punishes Jeff with restorative justice rather than traditional suspension or expulsion usually reserved for sexual harassment. The conferencing between Jeff and his victims results in his genuine understanding of the pain and embarrassment his actions have caused, and the three ultimately become friends. Without restorative justice, Slater maintains, Jeff’s harassment would have “blown over, but the residue would have remained.” The open and redemptive qualities of restorative justice repair the harm of Jeff’s poor behavior. Of course, the district attorney, Nancy O’Malley, refuses to entertain restorative justice in Richard’s case and declares it “absurd.” “This is not a case where he is not going to be incarcerated,” O’Malley says. “We cannot ignore what he did.” Still, Sujatha Baliga, America’s foremost expert on restorative justice, declares Sasha and Richard the “perfect candidates for this dialogue,” contending, “all of them are such gorgeously enlightened, beautiful people.” In the end, Slater argues that Richard’s genuine remorse and Sasha’s willingness to forgive are crucial to redemption, acceptance, and peace, and Richard’s incarceration is not required to achieve this goal. The fact that Richard spends five years in a correctional facility anyway suggests that the American justice system is far from accepting restorative justice as an approach to criminal rehabilitation.