Biography
Jacob Tori, an IWW delegate and organizer from San Francisco, California, was indicted by the Department of Justice for his "rantings" against the war and his urging young men "not to register" for the draft. He was convicted at the mass fWW trial in Sacramento and sentenced to ten years in prison, which he served in local county jails and Leavenworth Penitentiary from December 1917 to December 24, 1923. An organizer and a delegate for the IWW since 1913, Tori helped organize the fruit-packing industry. Tori's lack of cooperation in prison caused prison officials to declare him the "most worthless man" at Leavenworth. His twenty written reprimands included offenses such as "killing time, " "indolence and defiance, " "getting up from the supper table without permission, " "wasting food at dinner" and "talking in the mess hall." Twice he was placed in isolation on a restricted diet for being "worthless and insolent." On four occasions he was reprimanded for "refusing to break enough rock." Tori was among the last of the IWW prisoners released on December 24, 1923.
