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Michigan

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 Michigan.

334Documented
1In custody
185Released
8Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Michigan

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

1930s 74 1980s 51 1910s 45 1920s 33 1950s 22 2020s 21

Documented cases

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

Mariam Muhammed Odeh
Awaiting Trial
Mariam Muhammed Odeh is one of eight Palestine-solidarity activists federally indicted in May 2026 over a Univ...
Rasmea Odeh
Released
Note to editors: She does not seem to be political in nature. She is merely an immigrant (granted, from a poli...
John T. Pace
Released
John T. Pace was a Detroit organizer for the Workers Ex-Servicemen’s League and a leader of its contingent wit...
Leonora Perez
Released
Leonora Perez was one of two Filipina immigrant nurses at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Ann Ar...
Rev. Edward Pinkney
Released
Rev. Edward Pinkney is the founder of Black Autonomy Network Community Organization and a leader in the strugg...
George Pirinsky
Released
George Pirinsky arrived in America from Bulgaria in 1923 with little money or English, and within a few years...
Pun Plamondon
Released
Pun Plamondon was Lawrence Robert "Pun" Plamondon, of Ottawa/Odawa descent, and co-founded the White Panther P...
Ardeth Platte
Released
Sister Ardeth Platte OP was a Dominican nun of the Grand Rapids Dominicans whose six decades of social-justice...
William Powell
Released
William Powell was from Detroit, Michigan, and was imprisoned under the Espionage Act after criticizing the wa...
George Powers
Released
George Powers was one of five Detroit workers sentenced to 90 days in jail for holding a workers' meeting, pic...
Nada Nadim Prouty
Released
Nada Nadim Prouty was a former Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation employee whose...
Siwatu-Salama Ra
Released
Siwatu-Salama Ra is an environmental and racial justice activist who served as director of East Michigan Envir...
Ahmad Rahman
Released
Ahmad Rahman was also known as Ahmad A. Rahman and, earlier in life, Ron Irwin. He became associated with Blac...
Philip Raymond
Released
Philip Aaron Raymond, known as Phil Raymond, was a Detroit Communist and automobile-workers' organizer, born i...
Ronald Raymond
Released
Riot + attempted arson (burning mannequin into a police car), Grand Rapids May 30 2020. Sentence: 1 year Kent...
Conrad Rockenhaus
Released
U.S. Air Force veteran, longtime Tor relay and exit-node operator, and federal prisoner currently held at FCI...
John Rose
Released
John Rose was a farmer in Newaygo County, Michigan, who took part in resistance to farm foreclosures. Born on...
Daniel Rutt
Released
Christian pacifist of Mennonite family background raised Methodist. Prosecuted after publicly writing official...
John Schmies
John Schmies was a Communist candidate for mayor of Detroit and secretary of the Trade Union Unity League. The...
John Sinclair
Released
John Sinclair was a Michigan-based poet, music organizer, and radical activist who fused counterculture politi...
Michael Slaski
Released
Michael Slaski was one of the D.C. Nine, who entered Dow Chemical’s Washington offices on March 22, 1969 and d...
Chase Vladamir Spencer
Released
Chase Spencer was charged in connection with property destruction during protests in downtown Grand Rapids, Mi...
Anthony J. Stopa
Released
Anthony J. Stopa was an antiwar defendant from Detroit, Michigan, convicted under the Espionage Act. His Leave...
Darnell Summers
Darnell Summers was a Black Vietnam veteran, antiwar activist and jazz musician associated with the Malcolm X...

Institutions in Michigan

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

Federal Correctional Institution, MilanMilan, Michigan
6 cases
FCI MilanMilan, Michigan
3 cases
Bay County JailBay City, Michigan
3 cases
Michigan State Prison (Jackson)
3 cases
Wayne County Jail
3 cases
State Prison of Southern MichiganJackson, Michigan
2 cases
Marquette State PrisonMarquette, Michigan
2 cases
Detroit RRMMilan, Michigan
1 case