Mays v. County of Sacramento
Case Summary
On July 31, 2018, the Prison Law Office and Disability Rights California filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of incarcerated people in Sacramento County’s jails, claiming that conditions at the jail do not meet minimum standards under the U.S. Constitution as well as federal and state disability law. The lawsuit alleges that the County fails to provide basic mental health and medical care, imposes harsh and extreme solitary confinement conditions, and discriminates against people with disabilities. The lawsuit seeks significant reforms to improve jail conditions and to end the violation of the rights of people in the Sacramento County Jail, including those with mental health needs and other disabilities.
Case Quick Links
Restrictive Housing
Disability Issues
Jail Population Reduction
Sanitation and Conditions
Case Documents
Important Litigation Documents
Joint Status Report on Monitoring of Consent Decree during COVID-19 - 6/24/2020 (pdf)
Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, 1/13/2020 (pdf)
Order Granting Class Certification - 12/28/2018 (pdf) - NO LABEL - WHERE TO PLACE???
Class Counsel Letter re SSO Leadership - 8/28/2023 (pdf) NO ASSIGNMENT - WHERE TO PUT?????
Medical Care
Sixth Medical Care Expert Report (LaMarre/Goehring) - 1/27/25 (pdf)
Letter to Sheriff Cooper re Booking Loop Death [unredacted] - 8/19/24 (pdf)
Letter to Sheriff Cooper re Booking Loop Death - 8/19/2024 (pdf)
Medical Experts Letter re Recent Jail Deaths - 8/14/2024 (pdf)
Notice of Dispute re Ongoing Failure to Provide Intake Privacy - 5/2/2024 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Failure to Provide Confidentiality in Jail Intake Process - 10/17/2023 (pdf)
Sheriff's refusal to implement custody staff screening measures - 8/14/2023 (pdf)
Fourth Medical Care Expert Report (LaMarre/Goehring) - 8/15/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Failure to Screen Custody Staff for Contraband - 8/7/2023 (pdf)
Third Medical Care Expert Report (LaMarre/Saylor) - 10/25/2022 (pdf)
Second Medical Care Court Expert Report (LaMarre/Saylor) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
First Medical Care Court Expert Report (LaMarre) - 1/20/2021 pdf)
Joint Status Report on Court Expert Findings as to COVID-19 Practices - 10/27/2020 (pdf)
Expert Reports as to COVID-19 Practices at Sacramento County Jail - 10/27/2020 (pdf)
Mental Health Care
Fifth Suicide Prevention Expert Report (Hayes) – 11/11/24 (pdf)
Mental Health Expert Letter re Unmet Mental Health Needs -- 10/17/24 (pdf)
County Response to Mental Health Exert re Unmet Mental Health Needs (pdf) - 10/6/24
Fourth Mental Health Expert Report (Perrien) - 5/9/2024 (pdf)
County Commitment to Establish Offsite Acute Mental Health Beds - 9/22/2023 (pdf)
Fourth Suicide Prevention Expert Report (Hayes) - 9/13/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Demand re Offsite Acute Mental Health Care - 8/25/2023 (pdf)
Third Suicide Prevention Expert Report (Hayes) - 8/23/2022 (pdf)
Third Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 4/25/2023 (pdf)
Second Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
Second Suicide Prevention Court Expert Report (Hayes) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
First Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 1/20/2021 (pdf)
First Suicide Prevention Court Expert Report (Hayes) - 1/20/2021 (pdf)
Restrictive Housing
Third Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipline, Classification - 12/22/2023 (pdf)
Second Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipline, Classification - 7/19/2022 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter to County Deputy CEO Eric Jones on Restrictive Housing Report - 7/29/2022 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter to Deputy CEO re: Restrictive Housing - 7/29/2022 (pdf)
First Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipl, Classification - 2/25/2021 (pdf)
Disability Issues
Jail Population Reduction
DA and PD response to Letter re Jail Population and Superior Court Review Process - 6/14/2024 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Jail Population and the Superior Court Review Process - 5/15/2024 (pdf)
Main Jail Capacity to Meet the Consent Decree Report, Nacht & Lewis - 3/31/2022 (pdf)
Sacramento County Jail Study (on Jail Population Reduction Measures), Kevin O’Connell - 5/2022 (pdf)
Sanitation and Conditions
Sheriff's Reversal on Issuance of Weather-Appropriate Clothing - 3/10/2023 (pdf)
Sheriff's initial response to demand for weather-appropriate clothing - 2/24/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Provision of Clothing to Incarcerated People - 2/6/2023 (pdf)
Inmate Welfare Fund Annual Report 2021-2022 - 1/10/2023 - MARKED WITH “???”
Case Quick Links
Case Documents COPY
Court Documents
Class Settlement and Consent Decree
Expert Reports on Jail Conditions (filed with Complaint, July 2018)
Expert Report on Mentally Ill Prisoners and the Use of Segregation at Sacramento County Jail (Eldon Vail)
PDF Version
Accessible PDF VersionExpert Report on Mental Health Services at Sacramento County Jail (Bruce Gage, M.D.)
PDF Version
Accessible PDF VersionExpert Report on Suicide Prevention Practices at Sacramento County Jail (Lindsay Hayes)
PDF Version
Accessible PDF VersionExpert Report on Americans with Disabilities Act Assessment of Sacramento County Jail (Sabot Consulting)
PDF Version
Accessible PDF VersionExpert Report on Inmate Classification and “Total Separation” Segregation (James Austin, Emmitt Sparkman, Robin Allen)
PDF Version
Accessible PDF Version
Significant Court Documents
Joint Status Report on Court Expert Findings as to COVID-19 Practices - 10/27/2020 (pdf)
Expert Reports as to COVID-19 Practices at Sacramento County Jail - 10/27/2020 (pdf)
Joint Status Report on Monitoring of Consent Decree during COVID-19 - 6/24/2020 (pdf)
Monitoring Reports
Fourth Mental Health Expert Report (Perrien) - 5/9/2024 (pdf)
Third Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipline, Classification - 12/22/2023 (pdf)
Fourth Suicide Prevention Expert Report (Hayes) - 9/13/2023 (pdf)
Fourth Medical Care Expert Report (LaMarre/Goehring) - 8/15/2023 (pdf)
Third Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 4/25/2023 (pdf)
Third Medical Care Expert Report (LaMarre/Saylor) - 10/25/2022 (pdf)
Third Suicide Prevention Expert Report (Hayes) - 8/23/2022 (pdf)
Second Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipline, Classification - 7/19/2022 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter to County Deputy CEO Eric Jones on Restrictive Housing Report - 7/29/2022 (pdf)
Second Medical Care Court Expert Report (LaMarre/Saylor) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
Second Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
Second Suicide Prevention Court Expert Report (Hayes) - 10/4/2021 (pdf)
First Monitoring Report on Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance - 03/26/2021 (pdf)
First Monitoring Report re Restrictive Housing, Discipl, Classification - 2/25/2021 (pdf)
First Medical Care Court Expert Report (LaMarre) - 1/20/2021 pdf)
First Mental Health Care Court Expert Report (Perrien) - 1/20/2021 (pdf)
First Suicide Prevention Court Expert Report (Hayes) - 1/20/2021 (pdf)
County Consultant Reports
Main Jail Capacity to Meet the Consent Decree Report, Nacht & Lewis - 3/31/2022 (pdf)
Sacramento County Jail Study (on Jail Population Reduction Measures), Kevin O’Connell - 5/2022 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letters
Letter to Sheriff Cooper re Booking Loop Death - 8/19/2024 (pdf)
Medical Experts Letter re Recent Jail Deaths - 8/14/2024 (pdf)
DA and PD response to Letter re Jail Population and Superior Court Review Process - 6/14/2024 (pdf)
Notice of Dispute re Ongoing Failure to Provide Intake Privacy - 5/2/2024 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Jail Population and the Superior Court Review Process - 5/15/2024 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Failure to Provide Confidentiality in Jail Intake Process - 10/17/2023 (pdf)
County Commitment to Establish Offsite Acute Mental Health Beds - 9/22/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Demand re Offsite Acute Mental Health Care - 8/25/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Demand re Offsite Acute Mental Health Care - 8/25/2023 (pdf)
Sheriff's refusal to implement custody staff screening measures - 8/14/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Failure to Screen Custody Staff for Contraband - 8/7/2023 (pdf)
Sheriff's Reversal on Issuance of Weather-Appropriate Clothing - 3/10/2023
Sheriff's initial response to demand for weather-appropriate clothing - 2/24/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter re Provision of Clothing to Incarcerated People - 2/6/2023 (pdf)
Class Counsel Letter to Deputy CEO re: Restrictive Housing - 7/29/2022 (pdf)
News Release
Settlement Reached in Sacramento County Regarding Jail Class Action - 6/20/2019
Prisoners file federal class action lawsuit against Sacramento County - 7/31/2018
News Coverage
‘He’s Just Old and Homeless’: California Jail Death Leads to Accusations of Neglect - The New York Times, 2/7/2025
California debates solitary confinement in local jails — and whether it’s really possible to end it - LA Times, 8/31/2023 (pdf)
Six Sacramento jail inmates have died this year. They won’t be independently investigated. - SacBee, 8/29/2023
A Sacramento jail inmate died in May. The Sheriff’s Office never told the public. - SacBee, 8/29/2023
As cold weather sweeps Sacramento, inmates complain about ‘frigid conditions’ in jail - The Sacramento Bee, 2/27/2023
Sacramento sheriff reverses stance, agrees to provide warm clothing to jail inmates - The Sacramento Bee, 3/1/2023
Sacramento County inmates will receive winter-appropriate clothing - KCRA, 3/2/2023
Epic All-Day Meeting as Sacramento County Debates Expanding Its Jail - Davis Vanguard 12/08/2022
Sacramento jail failing in health care for inmates, with report citing ‘filthy’ areas - The Sacramento Bee 10/26/2022
Latest Jail Outbreak Prompts Emergency Releases - The Observer 1/25/2022
Sacramento County must stop torturing mentally ill jail inmates with solitary confinement - The Sacramento Bee 4/29/2021
Sacramento County to vaccinate inmates ahead of schedule - FOX40 2/24/2021
‘No way of stopping it.’ How COVID-19 invaded Sacramento jail, triggering major outbreak - The Sacramento Bee 2/11/2021
COVID at ‘crisis levels’ in Sacramento jails. Lawyers want more inmates vaccinated - The Sacramento Bee 1/30/2021
Sacramento supervisors delay vote on expanding troubled Main Jail downtown - The Sacramento Bee 1/27/2021
Sacramento County Jails Stipulate to Requiring Masks for Guards - The Davis Vangaurd 6/25/2020
Sheriff Scott Jones refuses to require deputies working in his jails to wear masks - The Appeal 6/10/2020
California jail population plummets during pandemic. Could this lead to long-term change? - Sacramento Bee 5/27/2020
California jails use kinder approach to solitary confinement - Los Angeles Times 12/26/2019
Behind bars but free from copays - Sacramento News & Review 10/24/2019
County failures, not state reforms, are killing people in California jails - The Appeal 7/16/2019
Inmate advocates, Sacramento County settle lawsuit over ‘inhumane’ jail conditions - The Sacramento Bee - 6/21/2019
California’s jails are so bad some inmates beg to go to prison instead - The Los Angeles Times 5/23/2019
$89M expansion set for Sacramento County jail. Here's why the need is called 'critical' - The Sacramento Bee 4/26/2019
Who Begs To Go To Prison? California Jail Inmates - The Marshall Project 4/23/2019
Here is what lawsuit claims is inhumane at Sacramento jail - The Sacramento Bee 2/14/2019
‘Punished for trying to kill myself’: Lawyers ask to halt solitary at Sacramento jail - The Sacramento Bee 2/14/2019
Sacramento County Jail Lawsuit Ruled ‘Class Action’ by Federal Court - The Davis Vanguard 1/04/2019
Federal Judge Soon to Rule on Final Class Action Status of Sacramento County Jails Lawsuit - The Davis Vanguard 12/26/2018
Suicide cells - Sacramento News & Review 10/4/2018
‘What happened to our brother?’ - Sacramento News & Review 8/30/2018
Sac Jails Slapped with Class Action Suit Charging Prisoners Subjected to ‘Inhumane and Degrading Conditions’ - The Davis Vanguard 8/1/2018
Inmate advocates sue Sacramento County over ‘dangerous, inhumane’ conditions inside jails - The Sacramento Bee 7/31/2018
Case Photos
Jail cell
3rd and 4th Floor Outdoor Rec Area (2022)
![3W 300 Pod [OPP] Dayroom (2022)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/658e00fdc5430956416678f7/d1f4eafc-9031-46a1-8d15-66a2be3e4563/3W-300-Pod-%5BOPP%5D-Dayroom-%282022%29.jpg)
3W 300 Pod [OPP] Dayroom (2022)
![Empty Holding Cell [Intake] (2022)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/658e00fdc5430956416678f7/406fac77-ab74-4db7-8e44-a4c62d851471/Empty-Holding-Cell-%5BIntake%5D-%282022%29.jpg)
Empty Holding Cell [Intake] (2022)
Main Jail 3 East dayroom (2022)
Main Jail acute mental health cell (2018)
Main Jail acute mental health unit (2022)
Main Jail another acute mental health unit cell (2022)
Main Jail booking loop - female safety cell (2018)
Main Jail booking loop sobering cell (2022)
Main Jail cell on 5 West (2018)
Main Jail suicide observation unit (2022)
Medical Intake Screening (2022)
RCCC female disciplinary cell (2018)
RCCC medical dorm isolation housing (2018)
Sobering Cell (2022)