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Pennsylvania

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 Pennsylvania.

836Documented
12In custody
544Released
4Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Pennsylvania

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

1930s 257 1700s 79 1910s 76 1920s 72 1960s 69 1800s 59

Documented cases

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

Mumia Abu-Jamal
In Custody
Mumia Abu-Jamal was a Black Panther Party member and Philadelphia radio journalist known for his critical and...
Cody Balmer
In Custody
Cody Balmer was arrested on April 13, 2025 after setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s residence while G...
Melquan Barnett
In Custody
Melquan Barnett, 28, was charged in Erie, PA with malicious destruction of property by fire/explosives to a bu...
Joseph Bowen
In Custody
Joe-Joe Bowen was a BLA activist who was in prison for killing a Philadelphia police officer in a confrontatio...
Fred Burton
In Custody
Fred "Muhammad" Burton was associated with the Black Unity Council and was convicted in the 1970 killing of a...
Raymond Eugene Chandler III
In Custody
Raymond Eugene Chandler III was arrested on May 1, 2026 after repeatedly calling members of Congress about imm...
Brian DiPippa
In Custody
Brian DiPippa along with his wife Krystal are left wing political activists in the Pittsburgh PA area. While p...
Robert Joyner
In Custody
Robert Joyner was a member of the Philadelphia Black liberation group known as the Revolutionaries and one of...
Shawn Monper
In Custody
Shawn Monper was arrested on April 9, 2025 after federal investigators linked him to online threats against Pr...
Keonne Rodriguez
In Custody
Keonne Rodriguez is a co-founder and CEO of Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin privacy ("mixing") wallet. Arrested on...
Salvatore Accorsi
Released
Salvatore Accorsi was an Italian immigrant tried for the murder of a Pennsylvania state trooper and acquitted...
Alfonso Africa
Released
Alfonso Africa was a MOVE member prosecuted in separate federal and Pennsylvania proceedings. MOVE’s booklet i...
Carlos Perez Africa
Released
Carlos Perez Africa is a longtime member of MOVE. He was among MOVE members prosecuted separately after the Au...
Charles Africa
Released
Charles "Chuck" Sims Africa was the youngest of the MOVE 9, only 18 years old at the time of the August 8, 197...
Debbie Africa
Released
Debbie Sims Africa is a member of the MOVE organization, a Black revolutionary back-to-nature group founded in...
Delbert Africa
Released
Delbert Samuel Orr Africa was a Black Panther and MOVE member. Orr joined the Chicago Black Panther Party (C-B...
Eddie Goodman Africa
Released
Eddie Goodman Africa is a member of the MOVE organization arrested with eight other MOVE members in the August...
Janet Holloway Africa
Released
Janet Holloway Africa joined MOVE in the 1970s and became part of the group’s public-facing activism in Philad...
Janine Phillips Africa
Released
Janine Phillips Africa is similarly known as a MOVE member from the group’s high-conflict Philadelphia period...
Merle Africa
Merle Austin Africa is documented as one of the MOVE 9, placing her activism within MOVE’s broader Philadelphi...
Michael Davis Africa
Released
Michael Davis Africa, also known as Mike Africa Sr., was born October 6, 1955 and became a member of MOVE in P...
Ramona Africa
Released
Ramona Africa is the only adult survivor of the May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police bombing of the MOVE house at...
Sue Leon Africa
Released
Suzanne LeVino, known within MOVE as Sue Leon Africa, Sue Savino Africa and Ria, was imprisoned after the conf...
Vincent Africa
Vincent Africa, also known as John Africa, founded MOVE and authored its Guidelines. The organization’s own bo...

Institutions in Pennsylvania

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

Fort MifflinPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
48 cases
Allegheny County WorkhouseBlawnox, Pennsylvania
34 cases
Walnut Street JailPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
20 cases
Philadelphia GaolPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
18 cases
United States Penitentiary, LewisburgLewisburg, Pennsylvania
14 cases
Butler County PrisonButler, Pennsylvania
11 cases
FCI AllenwoodWhite Deer, Pennsylvania
10 cases
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas / SCI Pennsylvania state prisonsPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
9 cases