California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC)
100 Prison Road, Represa, CA 95671, (916) 985-8610
This prison is often called the “New Folsom” state prison in reference to its older and more famous neighboring prison, the Folsom State Prison. The prison, built in 1986, is next to the Folsom Dam and is about twenty miles northeast of Sacramento. It holds approximately 2,800 prisoners.
This prison houses those with long sentences or those who were behavioral problems at other prisons. For example, Erik Menendez was sent there in 1986 to serve a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. In 1996, there was a major fight there involving 150 inmates. Seventeen shots were fired and thirteen inmates were injured, including one being killed.
In 2011, there was another large-scale riot there, involving approximately 150 inmates. Two inmates were stabbed multiple times and taken to local hospitals. In 2005, there was a bill in Sacramento to transfer the death-row operations from San Quentin to Sacramento, but the bill was defeated.