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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.

1,526Documented
39In custody
898Released
17Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in California

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

1930s 354 1970s 205 1960s 198 1910s 174 2020s 131 1980s 90

Documented cases

1,526 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.

R
Rauch (Los Angeles milk-strike picket, 1934)
Rauch was identified by surname only among twenty-two people arrested for picketing the Adohr Dairy during the...
T
Tom Ray
The December 2 report names these marine unionists among those actually arrested at San Pedro in the strike an...
J
Joe Razo
Joe Razo, identified in contemporary reporting as member of the La Raza editorial group, was jailed in the 196...
C
Charles Reamey
The San Pedro dispatch dated July 5, 1934 identifies Charles Reamey as a Marine Workers Industrial Union membe...
L
Lawrence Reidel
Released
Lawrence Reidel, then 20, was a U.S. Army soldier and one of the "Presidio 27" — the stockade prisoners at the...
G
George Retes
George Retes, a disabled Army veteran working as a security guard at Glass House Farms, was detained on July 1...
G
Gabriel Reyes
Gabriel Reyes was a Pelican Bay prisoner and plaintiff in Ashker v. Brown, challenging indefinite solitary con...
B
Bruce Richards
Bruce Richards was a Los Angeles Black Panther wounded in the October 18, 1969 confrontation in which fellow P...
J
Juanita Rieloss
Juanita Rieloss, a Chilean exile, served five days for a 1986 anti-military-space-project protest in Sunnyvale...
M
Mark T. Riley
Released
Mark T. Riley was a Vietnam-era war tax resister associated with Sacramento Meeting who was imprisoned at Term...
R
R. Rio
Released
R. Rio was secretary of the new Mexican union in the Imperial Valley cantaloupe strike. The June 1, 1928 Daily...
E
Eliezer Risco
Eliezer Risco, identified in contemporary reporting as editor of La Raza, was jailed in the 1968 prosecution o...
R
Robbie Riva
Robbie Riva was a California prisoner represented in the March 20, 2012 public petition to the United Nations...
B
Bryan Rivera
Released
Bryan Rivera was one of the eleven defendants in the San Diego County District Attorney's prosecution of anti-...
J
John Rivers
The newspaper reports that John Rivers was arrested twice during the preceding week in San Francisco: once whi...
R
Robert Robbins
Released
Robert Robbins, a San Francisco picture framer, participated in the CNVA Everyman anti-nuclear voyage. He was...
J
J. C. Robinson
Released
J. C. Robinson was a Los Angeles member of the Industrial Workers of the World, prosecuted under California's...
S
Stuart Robinson
Stuart Robinson was detained on Angel Island in a deportation proceeding alleging subversive activities. The J...
C
Carlos Roberto Robledo
Carlos Roberto Robledo was a California prisoner represented in the March 20, 2012 public petition to the Unit...
J
Juan Robles
Juan Robles was an East Los Angeles College student associated with La Vida Nueva. Contemporary La Raza and El...
S
Synrico J’Marcus Rodgers
Synrico J’Marcus Rodgers was a California prisoner represented in the March 20, 2012 public petition to the Un...
V
Victor Rodriguez
Released
Victor Rodriguez was one of the five anti-fascist Spanish sailors who deserted a Franco warship and claimed po...
F
Felix Rodriques
Felix Rodriques was arrested during the Imperial Valley cantaloupe strike. L. P. Rindal’s June 1, 1928 account...
G
Gabriel Rodríguez
Released
Gabriel Rodríguez was prosecuted in a federal case arising from a 2025 protest. Rodríguez pleaded guilty on Se...

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
San Diego County JailSan Diego, California
13 cases