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Illinois

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 Illinois.

718Documented
6In custody
382Released

Eras of repression in Illinois

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

1920s 169 1930s 134 1960s 70 1910s 69 2020s 64 1970s 61

Documented cases

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

C
C. H. Kamann
Released
C. H. Kammann was prosecuted under United States wartime statutes of the World War I era (chiefly the Espionag...
M
Margaret Katroscik
Released
Margaret Ann Katroscik was one of the Chicago 15 arrested after the group burned about 40,000 Selective Servic...
P
Patrick Keen
Patrick Keen was a Chicago Black Panther Party member taken into custody in the June 4, 1969 FBI raid on the p...
J
Joseph J. Kehoe
Joseph J. Kehoe was an official of Chicago’s Amalgamated Street Carmen’s Union. Page 3’s February 3 dispatch r...
J
James Keller
Released
James Keller was a foreign-born Chicago resident under an immigration order of supervision because no country...
H
Homer Kelly
Homer Kelly was an Illinois Workers Alliance member and co-defendant in the Cairo relief-demonstration prosecu...
J
John Joseph Killian
Released
John Joseph Killian was a former United Electrical Workers official prosecuted for signing a Taft-Hartley non-...
K
Kalman Kis
The May 1920 Chicago conspiracy roster names Kalman Kis among defendants indicted in January 1920 for alleged...
N
Nels Kjar
Released
Nels Kjar was a Danish-born carpenter, Communist activist and labor organizer and leader of unemployed workers...
H
Harold M. Koch
In Exile
Harold M. Koch was a former Roman Catholic priest from Chicago who sought asylum in the Soviet Union in 1966....
W
Wanda Kolletta
Wanda Kolletta was a Chicago garment-strike picket prosecuted repeatedly in 1924. The May 24 Daily Worker repo...
M
Mike Koplow
Mike Koplow was an anti-nuclear protester prosecuted with the LaSalle 14 following the June 26, 1982 protest a...
K
Kate Koppa
Released
Kate Koppa was a Chicago garment-strike picket associated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Unio...
P
Peter Korak
Peter Korak was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company...
M
Michael Kovco
Released
Michael Kovco was arrested on April 3, 2026 after prosecutors accused him of sending threats against President...
M
Marie Kratochvil
Released
Marie Kratochvil was a 70-year-old Chicago resident who had lived in the United States for 47 years when immig...
M
Morris Krvetz
Released
Morris Krvetz was a Chicago garment-strike picket associated with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' U...
P
Philip Kurinsky
The May 1920 Chicago conspiracy roster names Philip Kurinsky among defendants indicted in January 1920 for all...
J
Jennie La Zar
Released
Jennie La Zar was a member of the IWW's Chicago Recruiting Union. Around February 8, 1919, Chicago police arre...
P
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert was arrested in May 1969 and charged with intimidating a white student. The chronology says that...
E
Esther Lami
Esther Lami was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company...
W
Warren Lamson
Warren Lamson was a Chicago Unemployed Council secretary and Communist congressional candidate who had earlier...
W
William Landgraf
The May 1920 Chicago conspiracy roster names William Landgraf among defendants indicted in January 1920 for al...
A
A. A. Larsen
Released
A. A. Larsen, nicknamed Whirlwind, was a Chicago Daily Worker and Sunday Worker subscription organizer who had...

Institutions in Illinois

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

Cook County JailChicago, Illinois
58 cases
Chicago police lockupChicago, Illinois
9 cases
MCC ChicagoChicago , Illinois
8 cases
Woodstock Jail (McHenry County)
7 cases
Southern Illinois Penitentiary, ChesterChester, Illinois
6 cases
FCI Pekin Satellite CampPekin, Illinois
5 cases
USP MarionMarion, Illinois
5 cases
FCI PekinPekin, Illinois
4 cases