Skip to content
Learn More → State by State

Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin.

439Documented
2In custody
135Released
1Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Wisconsin

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

1940s 250 1930s 47 1910s 33 1960s 23 1970s 22 2020s 19

Recent dashboard entries from Wisconsin

The newest published events and reporting located in Wisconsin, updated automatically from the live dashboard.

Open the live dashboard →

Documented cases

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

F
Fred Bassett
Released
Fred Bassett was one of the leaders of the 6 March 1930 unemployment demonstration in Milwaukee — a crowd esti...
N
Nate Bellamy
Released
Nate Bellamy was the Milwaukee Panther information lieutenant. After a collision, he was hospitalized under po...
D
Daniel Belucci
Daniel Belucci was one of eleven defendants imprisoned after a September 9, 1917 confrontation at a pro-war ga...
B
Bernard Bensch
Bernard Bensch is individually named on the U.S. Army’s Camp McCoy civilian-internment roster as confined at t...
A
Andrew Berg
Andrew was a defendant who pleaded not guilty in July 1918 and was released on bond in a Wisconsin Espionage A...
H
Herman Carl August Bernsdorf
Herman Carl August Bernsdorf was individually recorded in a Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, receipt report dated 1942-0...
P
Paul K. Beyrau
Paul K. Beyrau was individually recorded in a Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, receipt report dated 1942-06-24. The repo...
J
Johann Block
Johann Block was individually recorded in a Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, receipt report dated 1942-06-06. The report...
K
Karl Blossey
Karl Blossey was individually listed among additional civilian internees at Camp McCoy in the list forwarded w...
O
Oscar Bobby
Released
Oscar Bobby was one of the leaders of the 6 March 1930 unemployment demonstration in Milwaukee — a crowd estim...
T
Theodore L. Boege
Theodore L. Boege was individually recorded in a Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, receipt report dated 1942-06-24. The r...
M
Mathias J. Borniger
Mathias J. Borniger is individually named in the March 16, 1942 Camp McCoy personnel-record transmittal among...
C
Carl H. Brandt
Carl H. Brandt was individually recorded in a Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, receipt report dated 1942-06-24. The repo...
M
Max Breu
Max Breu is individually named on the U.S. Army’s Camp McCoy civilian-internment roster as confined at the Wis...
M
Melany P. Brieno
Released
Melany P. Brieno participated in the April 2026 animal-rights action at Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin. She was de...
B
Brown
Released
Brown was one of six people arrested before the Fourteenth Street and Fond du Lac relief station. The source g...
C
Caleb A. Brown
Released
Caleb A. Brown was arrested May 1, 2024 at the UW Madison Palestine encampment after grabbing a Madison police...
F
Fred Burback
Released
Fred Burback was an unemployed Milwaukee worker and father of six children. After he became ill, the city stop...
B
Burke
Burke was an unemployed-workers’ leader released from jail and welcomed at Milwaukee’s Miller Hall, according...
D
Donald Burke
Released
Donald Burke was a communist candidate for Wisconsin state senator arrested with John Hilty and other members...
J
Joe Carl
Released
Joe Carl, listed as Joseph Carl in the International Labor Defense’s prisoner roster, was jailed after the Mar...
R
Ralph Celmer
Ralph Celmer was prosecuted under the Espionage Act in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin account records Celmer’s actu...
R
Robert Chevalier
Released
Robert Chevalier was a member of the Menominee Warrior Society and one of the leaders prosecuted after its 197...
K
Katherine Christianson
Released
Katherine Christianson pleaded guilty to willful injury to government property for her role in the July 20, 20...

Institutions in Wisconsin

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

FCI OxfordOxford, Wisconsin
11 cases
Milwaukee House of CorrectionMilwaukee, Wisconsin
11 cases
Dane County JailMadison, Wisconsin
8 cases
Ashland County JailAshland, Wisconsin
5 cases
Dane County Circuit Court
2 cases
Wisconsin state prisonMilwaukee, Wisconsin
2 cases
Wisconsin State PrisonWaupun, Wisconsin
2 cases
U.S. Federal Custom House Jail, MilwaukeeMilwaukee, Wisconsin
1 case