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Some remarkable people walk among us. One of them is sujatha baliga (spelling her name without capitalization), who greets people with "warm hellos." sujatha is a leader in restorative justice, a practitioner of mindfulness, and a self-described (at least at one point) survivor of childhood sexual abuse by her father. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first learned about sujatha several years ago through her combination of being a lawyer involved with mindfulness and restorative justice. 

As sujatha explains, with restorative justice, the focus is not on what law was broken, but who was harmed, what the harmed person needs, and who has the obligation to meet those needs. For instance, here sujatha movingly talks about an impasse broken when the subject of a car theft and attendant $4000 loss learned that the person who caused the theft was an artist, and she agreed to resolve the matter by his creating a Tinkerbell image for her. 

Jon thanks his longtime friend and fellow criminal defense lawyer Christopher Flohr for suggesting asking sujatha about the effectiveness of restorative justice when sex offenses are alleged. The story sujatha tells of the transformation of a sexual assault victim participating in an intensive restorative justice proceeding, ultimately hugging her alleged assailant, is even more remarkable than the above Tinkerbell story. 

sujatha's transformation away from anger is remarkable after her father sexually abused her as a child, and after she was beaten up in school when the only student of color in a small community. At one point, sujatha wanted to be a prosecutor, but her time in India and ultimate first meeting with the Dalai Lama transformed her to the path of being a public defender lawyer. (Listen to how she would effectively cross examine a child accuser in criminal court.)

You can meet and learn from sujatha at her in-person Spiritual Fitness program starting April 11-12, 2026. in Richmond, California. On various Monday evenings, she leads meditation gatherings. Stay tuned for sujatha's first book due for publication this year,  Angry Long Enough, by One World/Penguin Random House. 

This episode is also available on YouTube. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text).

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