Teach constitutional rights, human rights & policy advocacy @ Princeton University. Founder, Princeton Policy Advocacy Clinic. Former ACLU attorney for 20 years
Princeton, NJ
Joined February 2013
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My two decades at the ACLU, before coming to Princeton, taught me the importance of cross-ideological convergences as a way to create sustainable change. It's been an honor to continue this work @Princeton, bringing stakeholders together to solve problems princeton.edu/news/2025/09/0…
Udi Ofer retweeted
מה אני אגיד לכם? יש משהו ב״שיר לשלום״ שתמיד ריגש אותי. אולי אלה הזיכרונות משנות ה-90׳, זיכרונות של יהודים וערבים רוקדים ביחד ומאמינים שעתיד אחר אפשרי.
אבל לראות את הרגע הזה מרגש אותי אפילו יותר, וגם משמח אותי.
לראות כל כך הרבה צעירים, לא רק שרים, אלא זועקים וקופצים למען השלום. צעירים שכבר הספיקו לחוות כל כך הרבה מלחמות, ובכל זאת בוחרים להאמין שאפשר גם אחרת.
שאי אפשר לחיות על החרב.
זה דבר כל כך גדול.
ועם זאת, חשוב שזעקת השלום הזו תכלול גם הכרה עמוקה בכך שחיים כאן שני עמים, ושאף אחד מהם לא הולך לשום מקום.
השלום מחייב לסיים את הכיבוש ואת ההשמדה בעזה, ולעשות הכול כדי שכל הצעירים, ישראלים ופלסטינים כאחד, יוכלו לגדל את ילדיהם בשלום, בכבוד ובביטחון.
חייבים לתת לשמש לעלות. חייבים לתת לבוקר הזה להאיר.
Trump is invoking Willie Horton in attacking Democrats as soft on crime but it ain't working. The public today supports common sense criminal justice reform. More than 400 reform laws have passed in the states this year alone. We're not living in the 1990s themarshallproject.org/2026/…
Udi Ofer retweeted
A video of young Israelis singing "Song for Peace" at InDNegev, ain indie music festival in the Negev Desert, near Gaza has gone viral, stirring nostalgia for a time when Israeli-Palestinian peace seemed possible | Video by @tomerappelbaum
🔗haaretz.com/israel-news/elec…
🤖 Made with AI
Heartbreaking analysis documenting children in Texas being handcuffed, separated from parents, and arrested for behaviors that should lead to the principal's office, not to the criminal justice system. Ending school violence is an important goal. I have two children in elementary and secondary public schools. I get the temptation of stationing police in schools, and it's true that most of what police do in schools does not lead to these injustices. But you can't ignore the fact that all too often, when police are permanently stationed in a school, kids are needlessly pushed into the criminal justice system for behaviors that in schools without cops would lead to detention, not jail. nytimes.com/2026/10/15/us/te…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Udi Ofer (@udiofer_) returns to Drugs on the Docket to share insights on the role of drug policy, bipartisanship, and emerging technologies in the future of criminal justice reform. Listen now: go.osu.edu/drugsonthedocket
ALT The image features a podcast cover titled "Drugs on the Docket" from the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. It includes a hypnotic red and purple swirl design. To the right, there's text indicating "Season 4 Episode 5 – Criminal Justice Reform Is Not Dead with Udi Ofer." Below, it mentions availability on Apple Podcasts and YouTube. The background shows birds in flight over barbed wire.
The premiere UN Human Rights body just held an uncontested election of 15 members resulting in countries with poor human rights records winning seats. The UN's 193 member nations get to vote, but clearly human rights record is not a top consideration apnews.com/article/un-human-…
Senior Iranian officials say Iran is deploying new tactics to target ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to influence the US midterm elections and keep oil $$ high, while US has been pressing naval blockade as it tries to end conflict english.alarabiya.net/News/m…
Udi Ofer retweeted
The Houthis have now killed more Muslim pilgrims than they've killed Israelis (in their entire history, they've managed to kill one maintenance worker at a hotel in Tel Aviv back in 2024 with a drone).
An Iranian MP boasted in 2014 that "Iran controls 4 Arab capitals" referring to Sanaa', Baghdad, Beirut & Damascus. Jerusalem, where this axis promised they'll pray, was not on the list.
The overwhelming majority of victims of this axis are Arabs, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, tens of thousands in Yemen, thousands of Iraqis (civilians who are both Sunni and Shia) and thousands of Lebanese (most of them Shia from the Amal movement).
I wrote about this recently here theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Not long ago, it was practically unheard of for Israeli police to force protesters or people under arrest to strip naked.
Under Israeli law, even when a person is in custody, a full-body search is a highly restricted measure permitted only when there is reasonable suspicion that evidence or illegal contraband is hidden on their body.
Over the past few years, we have watched this invasive practice spread and normalize at an alarming speed. It has become so rampant that a Tel Aviv police commander recently admitted to investigators that full strip searches are now conducted "as a routine."
This unlawful practice is no longer confined to political arrests-it is now weaponized against anyone who dares to speak up. Merely asking an officer to show respect was enough for Father Constantine, head of Jaffa's Greek Orthodox community, to be detained, handcuffed, and forced to strip naked in a station bathroom.
Stripping detainees without legal cause has nothing to do with security. It is an unlawful tool used to degrade, punish, and silence. When bodily humiliation becomes standard procedure for questioning authority, no one is safe.
We have demanded that the Attorney General end this illegal practice immediately. Humiliation is not law enforcement.
Udi Ofer retweeted
Good statement from France on Palestine’s would-be election.
Mind-boggling how few advocates & policymakers on practically any side of the nightmarish Israel-Palestine situation advocate for the Palestinian people’s ability to democratically choose their own leaders.
#Palestine | Announcement of the postponement of Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections
Thank you, 60 Minutes, for giving attention to this important issue:
In the West Bank, some of the violence against Palestinians is being carried out by young Israeli shepherds known as Hilltop Youth, who come for a sense of adventure and are told they’re on a God-given mission to redeem the land. cbsn.ws/4yLzzCv
All too often, when someone dies in prison, jail or immigration detention, their body is disrespected. How can we treat people with dignity when they're alive when we can't even treat them with dignity when they are dead? themarshallproject.org/2026/…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Pleased to share my latest for the NYT - Here Is How to Bring Israel Out of Isolation nytimes.com/2026/10/09/opini… via @NYTOpinion
For decades Israel has behaved like the mother in David Grossman’s novel “To the End of the Land,” a character who walks the Galilee to evade news of her son’s possible death, as if not hearing it could keep it from being true. No amount of walking is going to make the Palestinian question go away. The current government tried to settle the matter for good, seeking to bury the idea of the Palestinian question once and for all. Instead, this government may have exhumed it, turning it into a domestic issue in nations around the world and leaving whichever government comes next no choice but to finally reckon with it.
Alarmed by incidents involving verbal abuse, beatings and threats against women, the UN is raising alarm about violations of millions of women and girls’ rights to freedom of movement, expression and autonomy. news.un.org/en/story/2026/10…
The Taliban has been arresting women for violations of dress codes and restrictions on appearing in public without a male guardian. Millions of women must wear full hijab in public and be escorted by male guardian. Failing to do so can result in detention apnews.com/article/afghanist…
The Taliban has been arresting women for violations of dress codes and restrictions on appearing in public without a male guardian. Millions of women must wear full hijab in public and be escorted by male guardian. Failing to do so can result in detention apnews.com/article/afghanist…
“The most shocking part of our findings is the lack of dignity afforded to people who die in prisons...How can we treat people with dignity when they're alive when we can't even treat them with dignity when they are dead?” themarshallproject.org/2026/…
Thank you to @MarshallProj for covering my @PrincetonSPIA Policy Advocacy Clinic report analyzing what happens after someone dies in prison in all 50 states, territories and 3 federal agencies. Our findings? Dignity of the dead often disrespected 1/3 themarshallproject.org/2026/…
Some findings:
- 3/4 of jurisdictions didn't have policies recognizing people’s wishes for what they would like to happen to their remains.
- Half could cremate unclaimed bodies, even w/o consent. Three-quarters could cremate body even if against person’s religious beliefs 2/3
- A quarter allowed someone's body to be donated for medical research w/o consent
- Overwhelming majority didnt require public reporting of death in custody, making it difficult for anyone to identify patterns to prevent future deaths 3/3
See more here: themarshallproject.org/2026/…
After attacking the flydubai pilot with an emergency crash axe, the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport, United Arab Emirates prosecutor general has said. He planned flydubai attack before joining airline al-monitor.com/originals/202… via @AlMonitor
