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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.

P
Pete Carbonay
Released
Pete Carbonay was a member of ILWU Local 37, the Seattle Filipino cannery workers' union, facing deportation u...
C
Constancio Cargado
Released
Constancio Cargado was a member of ILWU Local 37, the Seattle Filipino cannery workers' union, facing deportat...
P
Philip Chinn
Released
Evergreen State College student and PMR organizer in Olympia. Arrested multiple times during the 2006-2008 PMR...
T
Thomas Connors
Released
Thomas Connors was a conscientious objector from Washington imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for...
M
Mark Cook
Released
Mark Cook was the only African-American member of the George Jackson Brigade and the last to join the Pacific...
S
Sam T. Crane
Released
Sam T. Crane was arrested on November 5, 1909 in the Spokane IWW free-speech fight in Washington. He was relea...
G
Glenn Crespo
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...
E
Emerson Daggett
Released
Emerson Daggett, a reporter of the Seattle labor weekly Voice of Action, was charged with criminal libel in 19...
J
John S. Daschbach
Released
John S. Daschbach was chairman of the Washington Civil Rights Congress and was prosecuted under the Smith Act...
W
Wilford Davis
Released
Wilford Davis was a Black prisoner in Washington State, convicted of murder and serving a life sentence. He ha...
E
Elmer James Dixon III
Released
Elmer Dixon co-founded Seattle’s Black Panther chapter. He experienced juvenile detention during the 1968 Fran...
J
James W. Douglass
Released
Theologian and author ("JFK and the Unspeakable"). Co-founded the Pacific Life Community in January 1975 with...
S
Shelley Douglass
Released
Co-founder of the Pacific Life Community and Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action. On Ash Wednesday, Feb 1...
B
Brendan Maslauskas Dunn
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...
M
Matt Duran
Released
Matt Duran was one of the Pacific Northwest anarchists jailed in 2012 for civil contempt after refusing to tes...
W
William Eimer
Released
William Eimer was sentenced to five years in prison. He served in McNeil Island and Leavenworth Penitentiaries...
F
Franz J. Feinler
Released
Franz J. Feinler was sentenced to four years in prison for making "seditious remarks." He served in McNeil Isl...
A
Al Fisher
Released
Al Fisher was a West Coast woodworkers' union official arrested in 1954 on his way to picket duty during a str...
W
Wil Casey Floyd
Released
Wil Casey Floyd, age 33, of Elkhart Lake WI, was sentenced to 37 months federal prison for unlawful possession...
B
Billy Frank Sr.
Released
Billy Frank Sr., a Nisqually elder and the father of Billy Frank Jr., was an early figure of the fishing-right...
E
Edith Frenette
Released
Edith Frenette was a transnational IWW "rebel girl" and free-speech fighter active across the Pacific Northwes...
J
Julia Garfield
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...
M
Max Gorman
Released
Max Gorman was sentenced to ten years in prison. He served in McNeil Island Penitentiary from November 19, 191...
C
Chris Grande
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...

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