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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.

P
Porter (Chicago hotel protest defendant, 1932)
Porter is named in the June22 Chicago report among arrested Vincennes Hotel anti-segregation protesters who at...
R
Rudolph Pospichal
Rudolph Pospichal was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Co...
R
Richard Powel
Richard Powel was a member of the Illinois Black Panther Party reported picked up on June 10, 1969 after Cook...
F
Freida Ida Prause
Freida Ida Prause is individually listed in the INS civilian custody roster as confined at House of Good Sheph...
A
Antonio Presi
The May 1920 Chicago conspiracy roster names Antonio Presi among defendants indicted in January 1920 for alleg...
A
Andrij Pulanacki
The 1920 congressional deportation-case summary lists Andrij Pulanacki under Detroit but explicitly reports hi...
M
Manker R. Harris
A United Front of Cairo press release reports actual arrests during the December 5, 1970 peaceful downtown bus...
D
Della Rabinovitz
Della Rabinovitz was individually named among eleven Chicago garment pickets arrested Wednesday, March 19, 192...
J
Jake Ram
Jake Ram was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company in...
E
Elia Ratkowski
Elia Ratkowski was arrested while attending a Union of Russian Workers meeting in Chicago. The 1920 congressio...
H
Herman Reese
Herman Reese was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company...
B
Bernard Reiling
Bernard Reiling was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Comp...
T
Theresa Rhode
Released
Theresa Rhode was a Chicago garment-strike picket associated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ U...
H
Harry Rice
Harry Rice was a worker named among six people arrested when armed county officials and anti-union forces brok...
S
Sandra Rich
Released
Sandra Rich was a nineteen-year-old Chicago Panther detained after a police stop on June 8, 1969. Three months...
E
Esther Richman
Released
Esther Richman was a Chicago garment-strike picket associated with the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’...
N
Nicholas Riddell
Released
Nicholas Riddell was a Roman Catholic priest and one of the Chicago 15 arrested after the group burned about 4...
J
John Riggio
John Riggio was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company...
M
Marcos Rios
Marcos Rios was arrested during the September 19, 2025 protest against immigration enforcement outside the Bro...
K
Ken Rippetoe
Released
Ken Rippetoe was a Catholic Worker in Rock Island, Illinois and a participant in the March 28, 1986 Silo Plows...
F
Fred Riso
Fred Riso was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company in...
A
Antonio Rolich
A Chicago police officer testified that he arrested Antonio Rolich at a Russian Workers Club meeting on August...
R
Randall Rollins
Randall Rollins was an eighteen-year-old Chicago Panther detained after police stopped a group of party member...
T
Tony Rosetti
Tony Rosetti was an Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike picket employed by the International Tailoring Company...

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