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Washington

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 Washington.

277Documented
1In custody
267Released
2Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Washington

Where Washington’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.

1910s 141 2000s 22 1950s 21 2020s 19 1970s 18 2010s 11

Documented cases

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

Bill Dunne
In Custody
Bill Dunne is an anarchist political prisoner who has been incarcerated since 1979, when he was sentenced to 9...
Hank Adams
Released
Hank Adams was an Assiniboine-Sioux activist born on the Fort Peck Reservation who became one of the most effe...
Charles Auspos
Released
Charles Auspos was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
Eugene Barnett
Released
One of the eight IWW defendants tried at Montesano (Grays Harbor County), WA from January 26 to March 13, 1920...
John D. Bates
Released
John D. Bates was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
E. M. Beck
Released
E. M. Beck was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and cha...
Ray Becker
Released
One of the eight IWW defendants tried at Montesano (Grays Harbor County), WA from January 26 to March 13, 1920...
Ramona Bennett
Released
Ramona Bennett is a Puyallup activist and former tribal council chair who was a principal leader of the Pacifi...
Charles Berg
Released
Charles Berg was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and c...
Bill Bichsel
Released
Jesuit priest from Tacoma, WA ('Bix'); one of the Disarm Now Plowshares five who on Nov. 2, 2009 cut into Nava...
J. F. Billings
Released
J. F. Billings was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
J. J. Black
Released
J. J. Black was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and ch...
Bert Bland
Released
Bert Bland was a logger and IWW member at the Centralia, Washington local, and the brother of O.C. Bland. He w...
O.C. Bland
Released
O.C. Bland was a member of the Centralia, Washington IWW local and one of the seven Wobblies convicted followi...
Albert J. Bloss
Released
Albert J. Bloss was a conscientious objector from Washington imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed fo...
Frank Boyd
Released
Frank Boyd was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and cha...
Pete Breed
Released
Pete Breed was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and cha...
W. H. Brown
Released
W. H. Brown was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and ch...
Margaret Channon
Released
Margaret Aislinn Channon plead guilty to federal charges for reportedly lighting five Seattle Police Departmen...
Charles H. Cody
Released
Charles H. Cody was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail an...
William Coffin
Released
William Coffin was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
Fred Crysler
Released
Fred Crysler was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and c...
Desmond David-Pitts
Released
On August 24, 2020 Desmond David-Pitts, 19, allegedly set fire to the Seattle Police Department East Precinct....
C. W. Davis
Released
C. W. Davis was secretary of the Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union in Seattle, Washington. He was conv...

Institutions in Washington

Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Washington that appear in the census’s case files.

Snohomish County JailEverett, Washington
74 cases
McNeil Island Federal PenitentiarySteilacoom, Washington
63 cases
USP McNeil IslandSteilacoom, Washington
45 cases
Washington State PenitentiaryWalla Walla, Washington
10 cases
SeaTac Federal Detention CenterSeaTac, Washington
8 cases
Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla / U.S. District Court, W.D. WashingtonWalla Walla, Washington
7 cases
Washington State Penitentiary at Walla WallaWalla Walla, Washington
5 cases
Washington State ReformatoryMonroe, Washington
5 cases