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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

Documented cases

1,533 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

C
Carl Schilter
Released
Carl Schilter was from Sacramento, California. Carl Schilter began serving a two and a half year prison senten...
J
Jake J. Schmidt
Released
Jake J. Schmidt was a Mennonite Brethren conscientious objector from California imprisoned during World War I....
H
Harry Schneiderman
Released
Harry Schneiderman was listed on the Labor Defender's class-war prisoner honor roll as serving 6 months in the...
L
L. Schneiderman
L. Schneiderman is individually listed in the January 1931 Labor Defender political-prisoner directory under L...
P
Peter Schnell
Released
Peter Schnell was charged with attempted arson in 2001 after being found behind Capitola City Hall with plasti...
H
Henry Schoen
Henry Schoen was one of the named defendants arrested in the September14, 1931 San Francisco City Hall unemplo...
S
Steve Schoenfeld
Released
Steve Schoenfeld was individually reported as sentenced July 21, 1983 for the June MX launch blockade at Vande...
P
Paul Schultes
Paul Schultes is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention Ca...
C
Charles G. Schulze
Released
Charles G. Schulze’s clemency recommendation reports more than one year actually held in San Diego County Jail...
J
Julian Schuman
Released
Julian Schuman was a correspondent and staff writer for the China Monthly Review. A federal grand jury indicte...
L
Laos Schuman
Laos Schuman was incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville and organized for HIV medical ca...
E
Elaine W. Schwartz
Elaine W. Schwartz was arrested September 6, 1984, initially released that day, then refused probation and act...
S
Stephen Robert Sciepes
Stephen Robert Sciepes was among six people arrested in a Richmond, California house raid on February21,1976 a...
S
Steve Scipes
Steve was a New Dawn Party member identified in Dragon’s Richmond explosives prosecution report. The defendant...
C
Charles Scott
Released
Charles was a New Afrikan political prisoner held at San Quentin State Prison in California, listed as a North...
J
John L. Scott
Released
John L. Scott was a member of the Black Panther Party and the eighth person indicted over the April 6, 1968 We...
D
Danny Seals
Released
Danny Seals, then 21 and from Auburn, California, was a U.S. Army soldier and one of the "Presidio 27" — the s...
K
Katelyn Skye Seitz
Released
Katelyn Skye Seitz, who publicly identifies themself as Skye Jones, was arrested during a January 9, 2026 demo...
J
James Seymour
Released
James Seymour appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’ 1968 lists of imprisoned draft and...
Z
Zayd-Malik Shakur
Zayd-Malik Shakur was a New York Black Panther Party member reportedly detained by FBI and local police after...
J
Jess Shapiro
Jess Shapiro was arrested on August 14, 1932. Revolt, October 1932, pages 5-6, individually names the six Aug...
M
Martin Shapiro
Released
Martin Shapiro was one of the workers arrested at the Los Angeles May Day demonstration of 1 May 1930 — on cha...
T
Thomas Sharp
Released
Thomas Sharp was arrested during the July 1934 crackdown surrounding the San Francisco general strike. Police...
B
Buddy Shaw
Released
Buddy Shaw was a U.S. Army soldier and one of the "Presidio 27" — the stockade prisoners at the Presidio of Sa...

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