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Washington

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 Washington.

280Documented
1In custody
270Released
2Awaiting trial

Eras of repression in Washington

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

1910s 141 2000s 22 1950s 21 2020s 19 1970s 19 2010s 11

Documented cases

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

A
Al Fisher
Released
Al Fisher was a West Coast woodworkers' union official arrested in 1954 on his way to picket duty during a str...
W
Wil Casey Floyd
Released
Wil Casey Floyd, age 33, of Elkhart Lake WI, was sentenced to 37 months federal prison for unlawful possession...
B
Billy Frank Sr.
Released
Billy Frank Sr., a Nisqually elder and the father of Billy Frank Jr., was an early figure of the fishing-right...
E
Edith Frenette
Released
Edith Frenette was a transnational IWW "rebel girl" and free-speech fighter active across the Pacific Northwes...
J
Julia Garfield
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...
M
Max Gorman
Released
Max Gorman was sentenced to ten years in prison. He served in McNeil Island Penitentiary from November 19, 191...
C
Chris Grande
Released
Named plaintiff in Panagacos v. Towery (W.D. Wash. No. 3:10-cv-05018-RBL), the federal civil-rights lawsuit fi...
W
William "Bill" Green
Bill Green was jailed during Seattle Panther newspaper sales in September 1970.
M
Mary Grondin
Released
Ground Zero Center member who walked the Trident rail line at Bangor with Shelley Douglass and Karol Schulkin...
A
A. Gross
Released
A. Gross, an IWW member in Centralia, Washington, was sentenced to twenty-eight months in prison. He served in...
A
Armin Von Harder
Released
Armin Von Harder was sentenced to three years in prison and served his sentence at McNeil Island Penitentiary...
B
Barbara Hartle
Released
Barbara Hartle was the one woman among the Seattle defendants prosecuted under the Smith Act during the McCart...
R
R. R. Hoffman
Released
R. R. Hoffman was sentenced to three years in prison. He served in McNeil Island Penitentiary.
E
E. F. Hollingsworth
Released
E. F. Hollingsworth was one of the 74 Industrial Workers of the World members held in the Snohomish County jai...
F
Frank J. Howenstine
Released
Frank J. Howenstine received a sentence of ten years in prison, which was commuted to three. He served in McNe...
H
Henry P. Huff
Released
Henry P. Huff was chairman of the Washington State Communist Party and was prosecuted under the Smith Act duri...
C
Cody Ingram
Released
Cody Ingram was charged in federal court (W.D. Wash.) with destruction of government property after the Occupy...
J
James Johnson
Released
James Johnson was arrested in Seattle on September 29, 1916, as Everett authorities attempted to build an arso...
A
Anton Karachun
Released
Anton Karachun was a Russian-born United States Army soldier sent to Siberia with the 31st Infantry during the...
T
Tom Karlin
Released
Tom Karlin was an anti-nuclear activist jailed following a protest at the Bangor Trident base. His oral histor...
W
W. H. Kaufman
Released
W. H. Kaufman, a "single taxer " from Olympia, Washington, began serving a five-year prison sentence on August...
I
Idell Kennedy
Released
Idell Kennedy was convicted in the federal wartime speech prosecutions in Washington State and sentenced on Ju...
S
Shyam Prasad Khanna
Released
South Asian-American PMR activist arrested for blocking a Stryker convoy departing the Port of Olympia in Nove...
J
John Kidenowski
Released
John Kidenowski was sentenced to three years in prison. He served in McNeil Island Penitentiary from July 20,...

Institutions in Washington

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

Snohomish County JailEverett, Washington
75 cases
McNeil Island Federal PenitentiarySteilacoom, Washington
63 cases
USP McNeil IslandSteilacoom, Washington
46 cases
Washington State PenitentiaryWalla Walla, Washington
10 cases
SeaTac Federal Detention CenterSeaTac, Washington
8 cases
Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla / U.S. District Court, W.D. WashingtonWalla Walla, Washington
7 cases
Washington State Penitentiary at Walla WallaWalla Walla, Washington
5 cases
Washington State ReformatoryMonroe, Washington
5 cases