‘Like being inside an oven’: Extreme weather batters imprisoned people

People in solitary confinement are often reliant on correctional officers for basic necessities, leaving them more at risk during periods of extreme heat [Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images]

Los Angeles, California – For 20 years, Michael Saavedra was imprisoned in solitary confinement.

Over that time, he was transferred from one prison to another, but his surroundings remained largely the same: Saavedra said he was held in concrete cells roughly the size of a parking space for upwards of 22 hours a day.