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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.
F
Federico Arizméndez
Released
Federico Arizméndez was jailed in the Los Angeles criminal-libel campaign against the Partido Liberal Mexicano...
J
Joseph Arizpe
Joseph Arizpe was a Mexican worker arrested at the Los Angeles twelfth-anniversary mass meeting commemorating...
E
Esteban Armenta Arias
Esteban Armenta Arias was arrested on June 10, 2025, at a protest against federal immigration enforcement outs...
R
R. Aronberg
R. Aronberg was one of six Los Angeles workers reported held for deportation following a raid on Communist Par...
J
Jose Artiste
Jose Artiste was detained in Los Angeles in 1929 after police intercepted him on his way to speak at a Novembe...
K
Kijana Tashiri Askari
Released
Kijana Tashiri Askari, also known as Marcus L. Harrison, is a New Afrikan prison organizer and writer who chai...
W
Walter K. H. Assmann
Walter K. H. Assmann is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Deten...
A
Aida Yagmur Aston
Released
Aida Yagmur Aston was one of six pro-abortion demonstrators charged for a July 30, 2022 action in which they p...
K
Kalima Aswad
Released
Kalima Aswad was arrested on February 28, 1969.
New Afrikan prisoner and writer appearing in 1980s political-...
J
Jesus A. Avalos
Jesus A. Avalos was a Mexican newspaper agent and reporter at 906 G Street, Brawley, arrested by Sheriff Gille...
A
Aziza Ayoluwa
Aziza Ayoluwa was an African People’s Socialist Party member arrested with Joseph Waller in San Francisco on F...
E
Edward B. Woolf
Edward B. Woolf was beaten and expelled from Santa Rosa by vigilantes in 1935. The June 11, 1936 dispatch desc...
W
William Baker
Released
William Baker was an IWW member from Los Angeles. William Baker received a one- to fourteen-year prison senten...
F
Fred Bamman
Released
Fred Bamman was an IWW member from Portola. Fred Bamman received a four-year prison sentence, which he served...
F
Friedrich Bank
Friedrich Bank is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention C...
J
Juan Barcelo
Juan Barcelo was one of four cantaloupe-strike prisoners denied habeas relief by Judge A. C. Finney in El Cent...
A
Anthony Joseph Barker
Anthony Joseph Barker, also identified as David Miller, was arrested in an Oakland, California house raid on F...
B
Bruce Barnes
Released
Bruce Barnes appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’ 1968 lists of imprisoned draft and...
I
Ivan Barnes
Released
Ivan Barnes was from Portola. Ivan Barnes received a four-year prison sentence, which he served in San Quentin...
H
Hans Bartsch
Hans Bartsch is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention Cam...
K
Kaspar Bauer
Kaspar Bauer was a socialist speaker and organizer in San Diego. He joined the 1912 campaign against restricti...
J
Juan Bautista
Juan Bautista, reported as 34 years old and living in Puente, was named among defendants in the Los Angeles-ar...
D
David Baxter
Released
David Baxter was a California sign painter and writer named in the wartime sedition indictments. A September 1...
M
Meyer Baylin
Released
Meyer Baylin was a Russian-born electrical worker and Communist organizer active in the Los Angeles Unemployed...
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