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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.

L
Louis Kitze
A July 1 San Francisco memorial notice in the July 9 Western Worker identifies Louis Kitze as a militant young...
K
Keith Kjoller
Released
Keith Kjoller is linked to the same 1992 California action as Peter Lumsdaine, in which activists targeted a d...
F
Frank Klassen
Released
Frank Klassen was a Mennonite conscientious objector from California imprisoned during World War I. Court-mart...
T
T. O. Kleiberg
Released
T. O. Kleiberg was an IWW member from Los Angeles. T. O. Kleiberg received a four-year prison sentence, which...
M
Mary Klein
Mary Klein was convicted of trespass following the April 23, 1984 protest against Diablo Canyon licensing at N...
T
Tom Knappe
Released
Tom Knappe was a German Greenpeace participant jailed in California following the 2001 Vandenberg anti-missile...
J
John Kobayaschi
John Kobayaschi is individually listed in the January 1931 Labor Defender political-prisoner directory under A...
J
John Isamu Kobayashi
John Isamu Kobayashi was a Japanese Communist organizer. Yushi Yamazaki's 2020 study, printed pp. 96, 103 and...
E
Ewald Wilhelm Koch
Ewald Wilhelm Koch is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detenti...
W
Walter Kohrs
Released
Walter Kohrs was an IWW member from Los Angeles. Walter Kohrs received a four-year prison sentence, which he s...
P
Paul Kurt Kotte
Paul Kurt Kotte is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention...
F
Fritz Kreitz
Fritz Kreitz is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention Cam...
I
Irving Kreitzberg
Irving Kreitzberg was individually named among workers arrested during the week preceding the Los Angeles Augu...
M
Michio Kubo
Michio Kubo was a California Japanese Labor Union leader from the Garden Grove workers’ camp arrested by deput...
G
Georg Kuffer
Georg Kuffer is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detention Cam...
P
Paul Heinrich Kuhn
Paul Heinrich Kuhn is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at Sharp Park Detenti...
R
R. Kuilmen
Released
R. Kuilmen was from Eureka. R. Kuilmen received a four-year prison sentence, which he served in San Quentin fr...
R
Raul Kuilon
Raul Kuilon is a U.S. citizen arrested while witnessing a federal immigration enforcement operation at a Linda...
E
Eva Kutas
Released
Activist serving a two-year term for conspiracy and harboring an escaped federal prisoner, listed by Amnesty I...
B
Bert Kyler
Released
Bert Kyler was from Sacramento. Bert Kyler received a three-year prison sentence for giving testimony in court...
C
Charles B. LaRue
Charles B. LaRue was one of ten IWW witnesses arrested after their testimony at the Casdorf–Firey trial. The J...
J
Jim Lacey
The San Pedro dispatch dated July 5, 1934 identifies Jim Lacey as a Western Worker correspondent, arrested in...
J
James Lacy
Released
James Lacy was arrested in a hall raid during the 1934 crackdown on California maritime strikers and their sup...
M
Mike Lamm
Mike Lamm was arrested with Bay Area IWW and antiwar organizer Ed Stover in the 1970 raids described by the Ch...

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