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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.

1,527Documented
39In custody
899Released
17Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in California

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

1930s 354 1970s 205 1960s 199 1910s 174 2020s 131 1980s 90

Documented cases

1,527 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

R
Rafael Gonzales
Released
Rafael Gonzales was prosecuted for criminal syndicalism in Redwood City, California, after possessing Communis...
I
Ignacio Gonzalez
Released
Ignacio Gonzalez was a prisoner at San Quentin, California supported by the International Labor Defense. He re...
J
Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez Jr.
Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez Jr. of Las Vegas was arrested on October 29, 2025 in a federal case arising from the...
W
William Gordon
Released
William Gordon received a jail sentence after a Los Angeles Panther-related arrest.
J
John Gould
John Gould was named in the November 22, 1934 Western Worker continuation listing San Francisco Jefferson Park...
S
Steve Graham
Released
Steve Graham appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’1969 current-prisoner lists of draft...
C
Charles Grant
Charles Grant was an ironworker and Industrial Workers of the World activist who participated in free speech c...
L
Ludwig Green
The July 9 Western Worker names Ludwig Green among San Francisco maritime-strike supporters arrested after com...
L
Linda Faith Greene
Released
Linda Faith Greene, age 61, was indicted in 2009 for stalking and conspiracy to threaten UCLA scientists invol...
H
Hans Hellmut Gros
Hans Hellmut Gros is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at San Pedro Detention...
A
A. Grosberg
A. Grosberg was one of six Los Angeles workers reported held for deportation following a raid on Communist Par...
L
Lawrence Gross
Lawrence Gross was individually identified as an imprisoned labor or political prisoner at San Quentin State P...
A
Aaron Grossberg
Aaron Grossberg was individually named as arrested at Workers Party headquarters in Los Angeles in the October...
E
Erich Mueller Grosse
Erich Mueller Grosse is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Deten...
G
Guerrero (Riverside strike defendant)
Guerrero was arrested with Ramirez while carrying union-meeting literature on a street corner; the report also...
A
Angelica Guerrero
Angelica Guerrero was arrested on August 20, 2025, while protesting immigration enforcement outside an immigra...
B
Benito Gutierrez
Benito Gutierrez signed the Imperial Valley prison-camp letter printed on page 4. Page 4 prints a letter dated...
M
Miguel N. Gutierrez
The July 23 Western Worker prints the July 12 San Diego report of a letter from eight Imperial Valley chain-ga...
N
Nick Elias Gutierrez
Released
Nick Elias Gutierrez was detained and arrested during a July 17, 2025 protest against federal immigration-enfo...
J
J. H. Dickson
J. H. Dickson, identified as the Unemployed Council representative, was individually named among those arreste...
G
George Haka
Released
George Haka was listed on the Labor Defender's class-war prisoner honor roll as serving 1 year in the Los Ange...
K
Kaizo Hakomori
Kaizo Hakomori was a gardener and Japanese Workers Association founder. Yushi Yamazaki's 2020 study, printed p...
A
Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan
Released
Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan was a Palestinian-born civil engineer and former Southern California fundraiser for the Ho...
J
Joseph E. Hanberg
Released
Joseph E. Hanberg was listed in the National Civil Liberties Bureau's March 1919 compilation "War-Time Prosecu...

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
27 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
14 cases