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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.
280Documented
1In custody
270Released
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 19
2010s 11
Documented cases
280 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
Ellen Reiche
Released
Ellen Reiche is a Bellingham, Washington environmental and Indigenous solidarity activist convicted for placin...
Loren Roberts
Released
One of the eight IWW defendants tried at Montesano (Grays Harbor County), WA from January 26 to March 13, 1920...
John Ross
Released
John Ross was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and char...
Rik Scarce
Released
James Richard Scarce, known as Rik Scarce, is a sociologist and author who was jailed for civil contempt in 19...
Frank Shaffer
Released
Frank Shaffer, of Everett, Washington, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and served in McNeil Is...
William Shay
Released
William Shay was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and c...
Don Sheridan
Released
Don Sheridan, a plumber and the secretary of the Agricultural Workers Industrial Union, Local 400, in Spokane,...
Albert Shreve
Released
Albert Shreve was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
Britt Smith
Released
One of the eight IWW defendants tried at Montesano (Grays Harbor County), WA from January 26 to March 13, 1920...
Elmer Smith
Released
Centralia, WA attorney and the IWW's local defense lawyer. After the Armistice Day 1919 raid on the Centralia...
Walker C. Smith
Released
Walker C. Smith was an IWW propagandist, writer and editor of the Spokane-based Industrial Worker from about F...
D. Stevens
Released
D. Stevens was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and cha...
Frank Stewart
Released
Frank Stewart was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
H. T.Cheetman
Released
H. T.Cheetman was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and...
Placido Torres
Released
Placido Torres received a prison sentence of two years and served in McNeil Island Penitentiary from April 24,...
Tom Tracy
Released
Tom Tracy was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and char...
John I. Turner
Released
John I. Turner, a lumberjack and an organizer and a delegate for the Lumber Workers Industrial Union, Local 50...
Ken Ward
Released
Climate activist and one of the five "Valve Turners" who on October 11, 2016 simultaneously shut off emergency...
Briana Waters
Released
Briana Waters is an environmental activist whose case became closely associated with prosecutions linked to th...
F. O. Watson
Released
F. O. Watson was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jail and c...
Hulet M. Wells
Released
Hulet M. Wells, from Seattle, Washington, was tried jointly with Joseph Pass and sentenced on March 18, 1918....
Piper Werle
Released
Piper Werle, age 29, of Port Orchard WA, Greenpeace 28 - September 2019 Houston Ship Channel bridge rappel.
Bernie Whitebear
Released
Bernie Whitebear (born Bernard Reyes, 1937–2000), a Colville (Sinixt) activist, was a central leader of Seattl...
Isaiah Willoughby
Released
Isaiah Willoughby is a Tacoma, Washington man who was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for setting fir...
Institutions in Washington
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Washington that appear in the census’s case files.
Snohomish County JailEverett, Washington
75 cases
McNeil Island Federal PenitentiarySteilacoom, Washington
63 cases
USP McNeil IslandSteilacoom, Washington
46 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