Decarcerate Sacramento is a community organization working to reduce incarceration levels and prevent jail expansions in Sacramento, California. Decarcerate Sacramento was founded in 2019 in response to a proposed expansion of the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center. Decarcerate Sacramento is a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a left-leaning nonprofit organization. ¹

About

Founded in 2019, Decarcerate Sacramento aims to prevent jail expansions and reduce incarceration levels while promoting community safety. ² The organization formed in response to a planned expansion of the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) and claims to have stopped the expansion of RCCC “through community organizing both inside and outside of Sacramento County jails.” ³

Decarcerate Sacramento is a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a left-leaning nonprofit organization ⁴ that provides start-up nonprofits with support services including administrative, fundraising, and educational resources. ¹ Other left-of-center organizations that are projects of SEE include environmentalist organizations such as the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, the Environmental Paper Network, Health Justice Commons, and Mothers and Others for Clean Air. ⁴

Programs

Decarcerate Sacramento’s goals include preventing jail expansion in Sacramento County, transparency of public funds, and reducing Sacramento County’s jail population through diversion programs. ⁵

Decarcerate Sacramento’s “Inside/Outside” program was founded in 2019 to build relationships and organize with incarcerated individuals by writing letters, making phone calls, and visiting jail. Decarcerate Sacramento also advertises a “Jail Hotline” to help incarcerated people access books, legal research, and medical care. ⁶

Campaigns

In 2019, Decarcerate Sacramento formed in response to a propsed $89 million expansion of the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center. Decarcerate Sacramento’s campaign to halt the expansion of RCCC began shortly after a meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in April 2019 when the Board decided to start accepting construction bids for the project. Decarcerate Sacramento formed in July 2019 and appeared before the board throughout the year to criticize the expansion of RCCC. Decarcerate Sacramento also disapproved of the proposed buildings that would support mental health programs, among other programs, maintaining that “jails are the wrong settings for mental health programs. ⁷

Decarcerate Sacramento also opposed the nearly $1 billion main jail annex project. ⁸ In November 2023, Decarcerate Sacramento joined other left-of-center organizations in condemning the expansion of the main jail in a joint letter sent to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Co-signers of the letter included the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Policy Prison Initiative, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Dignity and Power Now. ⁹  In 2024, the county put the project on hold so a third party could reevaluate the project. ⁸

Leadership

Liz Blum-Gutierrez is a co-founder of Decarcerate Sacramento ¹⁰ and is a consultant at Blum-Gutierrez Consulting. Previously, she was a senior organizer at the ACLU of Northern California. She earned a master’s degree in community development and a bachelor’s degree from University of California Davis. ¹¹

1. “About SEE.” Social and environmental entrepreneurs. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://saveourplanet.org/about-see/.
2. Hansen, Robert J. “Sacramento County Halts $1B Jail Expansion for Review.” The Sacramento Observer, January 17, 2024. https://sacobserver.com/2024/01/jail-expansion-put-on-hold/.
3. “About.” Decarcerate Sacramento. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://www.decarceratesac.org/#about.
4. “Donate to a Project.” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://saveourplanet.org/donate-to-a-project/.
5. Decarcerate Sacramento. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://www.decarceratesac.org/#campaigns
6. “Inside/Outside Organizing.” Decarcerate Sacramento. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://www.decarceratesac.org/#inside-outside
7.  Sanchez, Edgar. “Decarcerate Sacramento Celebrates Victory over Stalled Jail Expansion.” N&R Publications, November 21, 2019. https://spotlight.newsreview.com/california-endowment/community/local-issues/decarcerate-sacramento-celebrates-victory-over-stalled-jail-expansion/.
8. Hansen, Robert J. “Jail Expansion Put On Hold.” The Sacramento Observer, January 17, 2024. https://sacobserver.com/2024/01/jail-expansion-put-on-hold/.
9. Letter to Sacramento County BOS Re: Jail Expansion, November 30, 2023. https://uploads.strikinglycdn.com/files/b810ed50-8e9b-447d-b621-bd62c7ab4826/11:30:23%20Letter%20Re.%20Sacramento%20Main%20Jail%20Annex.pdf.
10. “Decarcerating Sacramento, with Liz Blum.” Voices: River City, May 10, 2022. https://voicesrivercity.com/2022/05/10/decarcerating-sacramento-with-liz-blum/.
11. “LinkedIn – Liz Blum-Gutierrez.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-blum-gutierrez-6b95b9281/.