Now that Ruby Arellano is out of prison, she decided to find her path. She started by volunteering at the Associated Student Government at Mesa College in the fall of 2023 to find a space to do homework. In March, she started a work-study for student affairs as a student aide. Now she has a dual role as a project assistant for mental health and student affairs at Mesa.
Having spent eight and a half years incarcerated, Arellano knew she wanted to change her life. However, the journey that she went through is a story worth telling. Arellano’s experiences are what led her to the life she has today.
Throughout her journey, she pointed out multiple factors that led to how long her sentence was and her understanding of events that occurred during her time in prison. In the county where she was arrested, they factored in ethnicity, whether that factor was unspoken or not. Attorneys or public defenders would make agreements with the DA’s office that gave harsher sentences to some clients while favoring others. Ruby was one of those people who were disadvantaged because of it.
When she tried to protest her inadequate representation, her lawyer brushed her off.
The court chose not to take into the circumstances of how her abuser led her to commit the crime. She was under 25 years old, he had set her on fire, and she was stuck in a domestically abusive situation that many women have a difficult time leaving.
Out of her 14-year and eight-month sentence, she only did a total of eight years. Being low-income and a woman of color did not help her situation either. She was labeled as a “battered woman” and was not defended in court the way other women who were abused were.
“Not only was I a physically battered woman, but mentally and emotionally and psychologically, my forensic evidence stated that I was not mentally able to protect myself… much less protect the victims in my crime,” Arellano said.
She was seen as a heinous woman, however, her situational factors weren’t considered.
Charged with some intense and heavy charges, she was fighting life. Arellano felt as though she was blamed for everything she did while not in the right state of mind.
“Everything was being put on me as if I intentionally, willfully intended to hurt and torture people, but that’s not something I did on my own and in my own accord, and in my own will,” Arellano said.
Instead of considering her experiences, they focused on her actions only. And this is not uncommon for women in jails all over America. The blame is put on them, just as much as the blame of the man who had domestically abused them.
Her abuser dodged two life sentences because he was diagnosed with CTE, which gave him some mercy for not being held accountable so heavily. However, this same mercy was not held for Arellano.
Throughout her journey in prison, she found multiple instances where guards would purposefully try to instill fear in inmates. One way was by constantly patting down and intimidating the Inmate Advisory Council (IActs), who hold meetings for inmate issues or concerns.
There are resources at Mesa for those who have been formerly incarcerated. Extended opportunities programs and services (EOPS) tend to those who are low-income, first-generation, formerly incarcerated, and foster youth.
Rising Scholars is specific to formerly incarcerated individuals. They both provide grants, food cards, gas cards, book grants, resources to purchase supplies and clothes, and academic counseling. Mesa also has scholarships that help formerly incarcerated inmates.
Mesa provides a professional atmosphere to regain self-worth, work ethic, build up confidence, and contribute to society. Mesa has resources for students such as The Stand and farmers markets.
“Having the lived experience of incarceration produces a sense of gratitude that you will never get any other way. It’s just a different kind of gratitude for second opportunities.” Arellano said.
If a student sees a Rising Scholar at Mesa, know their journey has come with blood, sweat and tears to be able to fight to have a place in the academic world and society. Arellano reminds that through the state of California, recidivism is lessened when higher education is involved.
Be kind, and remember that Rising Scholars are fighting to be better people to their community, themselves, and their families.
