My name is Ruhani Bustamante.
By the age of eleven, I experienced incarceration; throughout my teens Juvenile Hall had become my home, although occasionally I came home, one month here, two months there.
Freedom as a teenager as far as I can recall are snapshot memories. Ultimately in 1999 at the age of 17 I was tried as an adult and sentenced to 12 years in the California Dept. of Corrections. Restorative Justice and Rehabilitation was unheard of at that time. I grew up in a system that practiced Retributive Justice rather than Restorative Justice.
Today I have a sentence of 4 LWOP’s and 224 years. The Dept. of Corrections took notice of my criminal gang behavior and thinking and gave me the cognitive tools and therapy through various self-help groups to correct my behavior and thought process. I am working towards an associate degree with an emphasis on Social and Behavioral Science. I am a member of the LWOP Alliance Support Group, L-TAG here on Delta Facility at Calipatria State Prison. We encourage Pro-Social Behavior and have helped build a community where anti-social behavior is discouraged.
I have participated in projects that promote altruistic behaviors within the confines of these walls and outside to society. I am living amends to all those I have harmed and affected by raising awareness, impacting others through my journey and positive actions. I am living proof redemption is obtainable. I choose rehabilitation over antisocial behavior.
I hope that these words transcend through these prison walls. I am a different person today and not the same person who came to prison.