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Tennessee
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 Tennessee.
105Documented
2In custody
74Released
1Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Tennessee
Where Tennessee’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 31
2020s 16
1800s 16
2000s 10
1960s 6
1910s 6
Recent dashboard entries from Tennessee
The newest published events and reporting located in Tennessee, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Arrest
Memphis Safe Task Force agents tackle and arrest activist Hunter Demster while he records them
Arrest
Congressional candidate Adam Heimerman arrested on four felony counts over damaged Flock cameras
Protest
Data center outrage: Hundreds pack in to protest during hours-long meeting in Nashville
Other
DHS issued ‘be on the lookout’ alert for comedian Ben Palmer
Other
DHS issued ‘be on the lookout’ alert for comedian Ben Palmer
Protest
Three arrested at Tennessee Capitol over Memphis redistricting
Prosecution
Charges dropped against three arrested at the Memphis No Kings protest
Protest
About 400 rally at the Madison County courthouse for 'No Kings'
Documented cases
105 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
E
Edmund W. Sehon
Released
Edmund W. Sehon was a Nashville Methodist minister. Edmund W. Sehon was jailed in 1862 on Andrew Johnson’s ord...
B
Bill Sutherland (Kentucky miner)
Bill Sutherland was a striking Kentucky miner collecting relief in Knoxville for the mine strike. The February...
N
Neal Tuttrup
Neal Tuttrup was an environmental protester jailed after the 1994 Watts Bar nuclear-facility action in Tenness...
E
Earnest Tweed
Earnest Tweed was a prisoner elected to the strike committee of the August 14, 1933 convict-miners' protest at...
W
Willie White
Willie White was a prisoner elected to the strike committee of the August 14, 1933 convict-miners' protest at...
A
Andrew Wilcox
Andrew Wilcox, aged24, was reported sentenced to the electric chair in the June28 Chattanooga account. The pap...
D
Dick Wilkerson
Dick Wilkerson was a Black man kidnapped and lynched near Manchester, Tennessee, on June 24, 1934. A June 25 d...
P
Paul Collins Williams
Released
Paul Collins Williams appears in the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors’ 1968 military-prison lists...
R
Roger Williams
Released
Roger Williams was a defendant in the Memphis 16 housing protest case supported by local Panther organizing. H...
Institutions in Tennessee
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Tennessee that appear in the census’s case files.
Knox County JailKnoxville, Tennessee
4 cases
Brushy Mountain Penitentiary
3 cases
Robertson County Circuit Court
2 cases
Tennessee state prison (Davidson County)Nashville, Tennessee
2 cases
Perry County JailLinden, Tennessee
1 case
Knox County Detention FacilityKnoxville, Tennessee
1 case
FCI Memphis Satellite CampMillington, Tennessee
1 case
Shelby County Circuit Court
1 case