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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.
S
Sarta Di Petrilla
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
V
Vincenzo Di Tommaso
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
L
Leonard Doherty
Released
Leonard Doherty was a member of the Marine Workers’ Industrial Union and Trade Union Unity League who supporte...
D
Donaigian (Lawrence, 1931)
Released
Donaigian (Lawrence, 1931) was among three workers arrested in a raid on the National Textile Workers Union of...
B
Bedros Donegian
Released
Bedros Donegian was an Armenian weaver and National Textile Workers Union activist in Lawrence, Massachusetts....
E
Elizabeth Donnelley
Elizabeth Donnelley was a Textile Mill Committees children’s organizer arrested with several unnamed children...
S
Scott Duffy
Released
Scott Duffy was jailed following an anti-nuclear protest at the GTE research facility in Westboro, Massachuset...
M
Margaret D’Angostino
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
M
Mary Eastey
Mary Eastey was imprisoned on a witchcraft accusation during the Salem prosecutions in Massachusetts in 1692....
S
Samuel Ely
Released
Samuel Ely was a leader of resistance to Massachusetts courts and state policies in 1782, before Shays’ Rebell...
A
Andrew D. Emerald
Released
Andrew D. Emerald was arrested on April 1, 2026 after a federal indictment accused him of posting threats agai...
B
Benjamin Fairbanks
Released
Benjamin Fairbanks was a Dedham farmer prosecuted over an anti-government liberty pole under the Sedition Act....
T
Tom Farley
Tom Farley was individually identified as arrested March 7, 1984 at Draper Lab in Cambridge, convicted April 1...
D
Delano Farrar
Delano Farrar was a Boston Black Panther deputy minister of defense arrested at Guido’s Pizza in Boston on Jan...
M
Margaret Farren
Released
Margaret Farren was jailed following an anti-nuclear protest at the GTE research facility in Westboro, Massach...
A
Anthony Fenelli
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
J
Jennie Fichera
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
J
Joe Figuerado
Page 3 identifies Joe Figuerado among three found guilty November 10 of disturbing the peace and loitering dur...
D
Dominico Franko
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike report individually lists this worker among those actually arrested betwe...
J
Jack Garvine
Released
Jack Garvine was listed among the class-war prisoners on the International Labor Defense's 1930 Winter Relief...
A
A. Gaspar
A. Gaspar was a Portuguese-language labor activist identified at a New Bedford Sacco–Vanzetti memorial in the...
C
Craemen Gethers
Released
Black University of Massachusetts-Amherst student convicted of a 1974 McDonald's robbery and sentenced to 8-12...
L
Lewis A. Gilbert
Lewis A. Gilbert was secretary of the Furniture Workers Industrial Union of Greater Boston. After picketing th...
M
Margaret Gilbert
Released
Margaret Gilbert was one of four Massachusetts defendants indicted under the state anti-subversion law for all...
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