Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer
Local activists and proponents of jail reform often speak of a Mays Consent Decree, which is supposed to hold county officials responsible for improving conditions at local jail facilities.
“Mays” is a Black man, Lorenzo Mays.
The edict stems from a 2018 lawsuit brought against Sacramento County by the Prison Law Office and Disability Rights California on behalf of Mays and a handful of others. The class action lawsuit called out inhumane conditions, lack of adequate staffing and issues surrounding medical care and mental health services for incarcerated individuals.
Described as intellectually disabled, Mays all but disappeared in the county system as a pretrial detainee. He was charged in the 2010 killing of another Black man at a Del Paso Heights motel, a killing he says he didn’t commit. Supporters argued he wasn’t mentally capable of fully understanding why he was being detained in the first place.
Mays spent nine years in county jail without going to trial. Eight of those years were spent in solitary confinement. Mays worked with local Black attorney Tifanei Moyer to be heard. The class action suit was settled in 2020, with African American federal judge Troy L. Nunley presiding. Three years later, however, county officials admit they’re still not in complete compliance. According to local news reports, Mays was released from county jail in 2022 to a group home.
Over the coming weeks, “Inside Out” will highlight the experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, look at efforts to improve local jail and prison facilities, and share the perspectives of Black correctional staffers and attorneys who work on change from within and activists who have dedicated their lives to shining a light on the inequities of the criminal justice system.