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Alabama
Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for Alabama.
283Documented
5In custody
166Released
3Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Alabama
Where Alabama’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 177
1960s 39
1970s 26
2020s 11
1950s 10
1980s 4
Recent dashboard entries from Alabama
The newest published events and reporting located in Alabama, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Protest
About 400 march silently to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in an 'All Roads Lead to the South' voting-rights action
Protest
Thousands attend protests in Selma and Montgomery for voting rights
Prosecution
The Justice Department indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 federal fraud and money-laundering counts; the civil-rights group pleaded not guilty, called it a vindictive, politically motivated prosecution, and moved to dismiss the case
Prosecution
Fairhope "No Kings" costume protester Renea Gamble acquitted on all charges
Arrest
Woman in an inflatable costume arrested at the Fairhope No Kings protest
Protest
About 5,000 rally at Railroad Park for a Birmingham No Kings protest
Protest
A No Kings rally draws a crowd at the Houston County Courthouse in Dothan
Protest
Jeana Gamble arrested in a costume at an Alabama "No Kings" protest; acquitted of all charges
Documented cases
283 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
J
J. S. Mayweather
J. was one of eight Black workers arrested in Birmingham home raids after the Cotta-Seville church relief prot...
E
Ed Sears
Released
Ed Sears was a Black union miner in Bessemer, Alabama, and an International Labor Defense activist. He and fel...
S
Sam Shirah
Sam Shirah was detained during civil-rights demonstrations reported in May 1963.
P
Patricia Ann Shuttlesworth
Released
Patricia Ann Shuttlesworth, a teenage daughter of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, was hauled off a Greyhound bus...
R
Ruby Fredericka Shuttlesworth
Released
Ruby Fredericka Shuttlesworth, a daughter of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, was arrested and jailed with her sis...
F
Fred Shuttlesworth Jr.
Released
Fred Shuttlesworth Jr., the young son of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, was hauled off a Greyhound bus and jaile...
J
Judson Simpson
Released
Judson Simpson was a Black sharecropper and Share Croppers' Union member wounded and arrested in the 19 Decemb...
L
L. Simpson
Released
L. Simpson was one of four Alabama sharecroppers whom a Birmingham dispatch dated December 29, 1932 reported r...
W
Will Smith
Will was one of eight Black workers arrested in Birmingham home raids after the Cotta-Seville church relief pr...
J
Jane Speed
Jane was arrested during the May 1, 1933 Birmingham demonstration.
The report describes her arrest during the...
S
S. T. Stargell
S. T. Stargell was a Black worker held in Jefferson County jail for investigation of the fire that killed his...
L
Laura Stark
Released
Laura Stark was the Southern district secretary of the International Labor Defense in Birmingham, Alabama. Pol...
J
James Stevens
James Stevens was arrested during Birmingham police raids against the Southern Worker newspaper. The Daily Wor...
B
Bill Stone
Bill Stone was a white participant arrested in the October 22, 1933 police raid on an interracial unemployment...
W
Will Sullen
Released
Will Sullen was a Birmingham worker arrested in the October 1934 literature raid. The October 25 Birmingham di...
C
Comit Talbert
Comit Talbert was a Black sharecropper, Sharecroppers Union member and cotton-pickers strike activist in Opeli...
L
L. C. Tate
Released
L. C. Tate was a jailed leader of Mine-Mill Local 137 in the 1937 Thomas Furnace (Republic Steel) strike at Bi...
D
Donald Thigpen
Released
Donald was an Alabama prisoner who faced a March 10, 1978 execution date alongside Johnny Imani Harris; at Har...
W
Wheeler Thomas
Released
Wheeler Thomas was a Birmingham worker arrested in the October 1934 literature raid. The October 25 Birmingham...
E
Eugene Thornton
Eugene Thornton is individually identified in the July 23 Talladega dispatch among four Samoset Cotton Mill un...
P
Pete Turney
Released
Pete Turney was a Black Birmingham worker and union activist imprisoned for possessing a leaflet that called a...
F
Fred Walker
Fred Walker was identified by the Daily Worker of February 12, 1935, page 4, as a class-war prisoner in Birmin...
L
Lanny Walters
Lanny Walters, a Black Communist, was jailed for addressing an interracial meeting in Tarrant City in 1935.
E
Erwin Warren
Erwin Warren was a Birmingham, Alabama dairy worker and trade unionist. The Daily Worker of April 6, 1936 repo...
Institutions in Alabama
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Alabama that appear in the census’s case files.
Birmingham City JailBirmingham, Alabama
20 cases
Kilby PrisonMontgomery, Alabama
11 cases
Atmore State PrisonAtmore, Alabama
8 cases
Holman PrisonAtmore, Alabama
7 cases
Montgomery City JailMontgomery, Alabama
4 cases
Jefferson County Jail (Birmingham, Alabama)Birmingham, Alabama
4 cases
Montgomery County JailMontgomery, Alabama
3 cases
Etowah County JailGadsden, Alabama
1 case