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Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts.
351Documented
1In custody
196Released
3Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Massachusetts
Where Massachusetts’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 102
1920s 38
1970s 30
1980s 27
1800s 27
1910s 24
Recent dashboard entries from Massachusetts
The newest published events and reporting located in Massachusetts, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Prosecution
Judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE gets a rare public reprimand
Arrest
Five arrested during climate protest that blocked traffic in Copley Square
Arrest
Climate protestors block rush hour traffic in downtown Boston
Protest
Protesters demand Charles River Laboratories end beagle testing at its downtown Worcester lab
Arrest
Two arrested plastering anti-ICE posters on a Citizens Bank branch in Boston, part of a campaign over its financing of ICE detention operators
Protest
11 arrested in civil disobedience at Burlington ICE facility
Protest
11 arrested after protesting outside Burlington ICE facility
Protest
Eleven activists arrested trying to deliver care packages to detainees at the Burlington ICE facility
Documented cases
351 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
J
John Sassato
John Sassato was an active Agricultural Workers League member arrested during the 1931 cranberry pickers’ stri...
M
Margaret Scott
Margaret Scott, a widow from Rowley, was jailed during the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692. The Sa...
J
Jack Seery
Jack Seery served 10 days after a 1986 peace-leafleting protest at Draper Laboratories.
A
Angelo Sergi
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
J
Jonathan Sewall
Released
Jonathan Sewall was a Massachusetts former attorney general. He was individually named in the 1778 Massachuset...
H
Harry Simon (Lawrence textile strike, 1931)
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
D
Donald M. Smith
Donald M. Smith was a Bates College Socialist student who helped organize a League for Industrial Democracy ch...
J
John Discoe Smith
In Exile
John Discoe Smith was a State Department communications technician and code clerk who served at the U.S. Embas...
L
Louis Somme
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
L
Loretta Starr
Page 1's November 6 Lawrence dispatch identifies Pioneer director Loretta Starr as seized when Marshal O'Brien...
L
Loretta Starwertz
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
C
Charles Stearns
Released
Charles Stearns was an abolitionist and absolute nonresistant who refused, on principle, to perform militia se...
S
Sidney Steinbruk
Page 3 identifies Sidney Steinbruk among three found guilty November 10 of disturbing the peace and loitering...
F
Fritz Stepanovitch
Released
Fritz Stepanovitch was a Socialist from Mattapan, Massachusetts. Fritz Stepanovitch was sentenced to twenty ye...
M
Martha Stone
Pages 1 and 3's November 10 Lawrence report identifies Martha Stone as an NTWU member and United Front Rank an...
A
Antonio Suares
Released
Antonio Suares — known as Tony — was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) an...
J
James Tomacchio
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
V
Vincenzi Tomaselli
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
E
Edward Tomiselli
Page 3 identifies Edward Tomiselli among three found guilty November 10 of disturbing the peace and loitering...
T
Thomas Torigian
Thomas Torigian was a Daily Worker seller in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Daily Worker of August 31, 1933, page 2,...
S
Salvatore Tortera
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
S
Sebastian Tortore
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
S
Semion Towstick
Semion Towstick, also printed as S. Towstick, was arrested with Communist literature in his possession, accord...
V
Vincenzo Tripoli
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
Institutions in Massachusetts
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Massachusetts that appear in the census’s case files.
Fort WarrenBoston, Massachusetts
75 cases
Norfolk County Jail Dedham, Massachusetts
10 cases
Boston Court House
3 cases
Charlestown State PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Deer Island PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Boston JailBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Hampshire County Jail (Northampton)Northampton, Massachusetts
1 case
Salem, MA federal jailSalem, Massachusetts
1 case