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California
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 California.
1,533Documented
32In custody
958Released
13Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in California
Where California’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 361
1970s 206
1960s 205
1910s 176
2020s 125
1980s 90
Recent dashboard entries from California
The newest published events and reporting located in California, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Other
Whistleblower alleges FBI targeted Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters
Prosecution
Charges dropped against five Stanford students over pro-Palestine protest
Prosecution
Judge dismisses all charges against the Stud Alley 18 arrested during San Francisco Pride weekend
Protest
Two injured at Teamsters protest outside Amazon warehouse; sheriff says motorcyclist intentionally struck crowd
Other
Five invited reporters held at gunpoint by Vandenberg Space Force Base security
Other
Photojournalist Steven Berumen shoved by federal officers while covering an LA immigration protest
Prosecution
Anti-ICE protester accused of pouring lighter fluid on CHP car is sentenced to prison
Prosecution
Westlake man sentenced for anti-ICE protest actions
Documented cases
1,533 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
Mike Sun
In Custody
Mike Sun was arrested on December 1, 2024.
Chino Hills, California political operative and operator of the Ch...
Maryam Tahmasebi
In Custody
Maryam Tahmasebi is an Iranian-born psychology and statistics professor who had lived in the United States for...
Jacob Daniel Terrazas
In Custody
Jacob Daniel Terrazas was arrested during a June 7, 2025 protest against immigration raids in Paramount, Calif...
Ismael Vega
In Custody
Ismael Vega pleaded guilty to interfering with law enforcement during the June 8, 2025 anti-immigration-enforc...
José Bello
Released
José Bello is a Bakersfield College student, farmworker and immigrant-rights advocate. ICE arrested him on May...
Claudia Rueda
Released
Claudia Rueda is a student and immigrant-rights organizer associated with the Immigrant Youth Coalition. Borde...
Sam Jones
Sam Jones was a Communist organizer of unemployed workers in Los Angeles. A November 19, 1934 report described...
James Branch
James Branch was the circulation director of the Western Worker and an instructor at the Workers’ School in Sa...
Helen Meyers
Helen Meyers (also printed as Helen Myers) was a San Francisco State College student, Young Socialist Alliance...
Richard Hongisto
Richard Hongisto, San Francisco sheriff, spent five days in jail for contempt of court after failing to carry...
Victor H. Johnson
Victor H. Johnson was one of eight striking tanker workers convicted in the Modesto dynamite prosecution in St...
Gullit Eder Acevedo
Released
Gullit Eder Acevedo, known as Jaguar, is an educator and street-vendor advocate associated with the Justice 8....
Artie Adanandus
Released
Artie Adanandus was seventeen when Richmond, California, police shot him in the back while arresting him on Se...
David Agranoff
Released
David Agranoff was a San Diego animal-liberation and Earth Liberation Front activist and author imprisoned dur...
Agustín Aguayo
Released
Agustin Aguayo was a US Army combat medic who sought release as a conscientious objector and refused a second...
Cesar Aguirre
Released
Cesar Aguirre, then 24 and from Elk Grove, California, was prosecuted for actions during the November 2-3, 201...
Stew Albert
Released
Stew Albert was an early member of the Yippies (Youth International Party) and a key figure in the 1960s New L...
Leonard Alexander
Released
Leonard Alexander was a Black inmate at the Correctional Training Facility at Soledad who, in a letter publish...
Eugene Allen
Released
Eugene Allen was one of the 'San Quentin Two,' convicted with Eugene 'Ernest' Graham of killing a guard at the...
River Allen
River Allen protested U.S. support for Israel by blocking the Golden Gate Bridge in April 2024. A jury convict...
Emilio Alonzo
Emilio Alonzo was an Argentine agricultural worker prosecuted after the April 14, 1930 raid on the Agricultura...
Stephanie Amesquita
Released
Stephanie Amesquita was one of the Justice Eight street-vendor advocates prosecuted over three September 2023...
Bhavika Anandpura
Bhavika Anandpura protested U.S. support for Israel by blocking the Golden Gate Bridge in April 2024. A jury c...
Elmer Anderson
Released
Elmer Anderson was from Sacramento, California. Elmer Anderson was convicted at the mass IWW trial in Sacramen...
Institutions in California
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in California that appear in the census’s case files.
San Quentin State PrisonSan Quentin, California
171 cases
Federal Bureau of Prisons
60 cases
Sharp Park Detention CampSharp Park, California
33 cases
Presidio StockadeSan Francisco, California
28 cases
Los Angeles County JailLos Angeles, California
26 cases
Folsom State PrisonFolsom, California
22 cases
San Quentin Rehabilitation CenterSan Quentin, California
16 cases
Metropolitan Detention Center, Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
15 cases