Michael Saavedra spent over 19 years in prison, and over 15 years in solitary confinement. He participated in all three hunger strikes against solitary confinement between 2011 and 2013. Michael graduated from UCLA, with a BA in American Indian Studies and a minor in Chicanx and Central American Studies. Michael is a jailhouse lawyer who taught himself the law while in prison and has successfully sued the CDCR. Michael is currently the National Coordinator for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, where he works with other survivors of solitary confinement to promote policies that end the use of long-term solitary confinement in the U.S. Michael has also published on his experiences as a jailhouse lawyer in the UCLA Law Review and is an artist.
