Udi Ofer
Teach constitutional rights, human rights and policy advocacy at Princeton University. Founding Director, Princeton Policy Advocacy Clinic. Former ACLU attorney for 20 years. Chair, International Advisory Council, Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
- One of the lasting legacies of Trump 2.0 will be the wake up call that lead states to adopt new laws that allow lawsuits to hold federal law enforcement, including agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, liable for committing civil rights violations. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...
- Incredible decision by TX federal judge ordering release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, explaining "case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas...even if it requires traumatizing children" storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
- Fatal overdoses drop in New Jersey to the lowest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline in deaths is far outpacing the national average as New Jersey overdose deaths fall to five-year low nj1015.com/new-jersey-o...
- Wall Street Journal editorial board calls for ICE to leave Minnesota. Explain that after the shooting of Renee Good, both Minnesota Democrats and Trump had a chance to calm the furies. But Trump instead sent 1,000 more immigration officers on top of 2,000 already there www.wsj.com/opinion/time...
- 57 percent of voters think Mr. Trump has been focusing on the wrong issues — including a whopping 69 percent of voters under 30, more than any other age group. Few voters say Trump’s second term has made the country better www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
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- While the overall global trend continues to move towards death penalty abolition, the world witnessed a sharp hike in number of executions in 2025. And we don't even know the full story, as countries like China & North Korea shroud the death penalty in secrecy www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
- Demetrius Minor: "That is how we honor Kirk — not with another killing [though the death penalty], but with a commitment to the principles that defined his faith and, I hope, will guide our nation forward." "The death penalty is not justice for Charlie Kirk’s killer" thehill.com/opinion/crim...
- As the Pentagon began moving some troops from Qatar in anticipation of a potential US attack against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel asked President Trump to postpone any plans for an American military attack on Iran www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...
- The recent demonstrations in Iran unite men and women from a range of socioeconomic classes and professions: merchants, public and private employees, students, seminarians, public intellectuals, and moderate Shiite clerics. www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/iranian...
- In recent Gallup poll, an average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they were independents who lean toward Democratic Party, while 42% identified as Republicans or leaned Republican. This breaks 3-year stretch in which Republicans held an edge news.gallup.com/poll/700499/...
- Spent the morning with @govmurphy.bsky.social at New Hope Baptist Church as he signed an executive order allowing people with past felony convictions to serve on juries in NJ, ending a lifetime ban that affected hundreds of thousands of people and restoring dignity to our neighbors, family & friends
- Some additional context on federal policy: In 2022, Pres Biden issued Executive Order 14074, which included a requirement that all federal law enforcement agencies adopt clear guidance on use of force standards, and that such policies meet or exceed the minimum standards issued by DOJ in 2022. 1/4
- Reposted by Udi OferUsing imagery online of the shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, we’ve created an animated sequence which highlights the approximate positioning of officers and vehicles at the scene. The red dot represents the agent who fired the shots. Yellow dots are other agents who arrived at the scene.
- I worked with the Biden White House and DOJ to develop a policy on when can federal police shoot at a moving vehicle. DOJ adopted it in 2022, and as far as I know, it hasn't been repealed. Here's what it says: "Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically,... (1/4)
- The other January 6th anniversary: 67 years ago today Richard & Mildred Loving were convicted of interracial marriage & banished from the state of Virginia by court order. They challenged the law and won a SCOTUS ruling striking down all bans on interracial marriage calendar.eji.org/racial-injus...
- Just saw the film It Was Just An Accident by Jafar Panahi. I was blown away. It's a must-see for anyone who cares about democracy and human rights. While other films this year yell loudly about revolution, this actually lives it, and asks us all what it means to live by a certain set of values.
- More attention needs to be paid to the importance of establishing an international stabilization force in Gaza. Set aside the politics & work together to build a force that helps build the foundation for future Palestinian state, stops Hamas from returning to power, and helps protect Israel's safety
- Iran bas executed the 13th man this year for alleged espionage for Israel. Like many others, Aghil Keshavarz was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court without a fair trial and on basis of torture-tainted confessions. It's an extrajudicial killing deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2025/12/iran...
- While the world faces unprecedented challenges, there was a $31.1 billion fall in aid in 2025, mostly due to U.S. and German cuts, although others, including France and the UK, have cut aid as well. 83% of USAID programs were cancelled, including most funding for health programs
- There are more conflicts happening today than at any other time since WWII. 117 million people are forcibly displaced; nearly 40 million people are facing such severe hunger that urgent action is required to save lives. While crises grow, global humanitarian funding has shrunk by 50%.
- The cruelty in Florida when it comes to the death penalty is only worsening. Now the Florida Supreme Court has upheld sentencing someone to death even when several jurors vote for life sentence. Michael Jackson was sentenced to death by an 8-4 jury & the court upheld it www.aclu.org/press-releas...
- To quote the EO: "The Federal Government’s long delay in recognizing the medical use of marijuana does not serve the Americans who report health benefits from the medical use of marijuana to ease chronic pain and other various medically recognized ailments." 👏 www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
- This is an important step forward by President Trump to bring commonsense to our nation's drug laws by rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III. Biden began effort but never finished. Trump's support cements this as true bipartisan issue. More needed but important step www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
- This is an important step forward by President Trump to bring commonsense to our nation's drug laws by rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III. Biden began effort but never finished. Trump's support cements this as true bipartisan issue. More needed but important step www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
- Federal immigration authorities continue to violate constitutional law by arresting US citizens, this time in Minneapolis. The US citizen in this case yelled “I’m a citizen” and “I have my ID” before masked ICE agents placed him in an unmarked vehicle. www.startribune.com/mubashir-min...
- Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past: In the 1990s, following a spike in youth and adult violence, nearly every state made it easier to try juveniles as adults. The results were disastrous. www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/2025...
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- The right way to analyze what the Trump administration is doing in the Caribbean, killing at least 83 people by blowing up boats, is through the lens of criminal law, not the law of war. Supplying illegal drugs to Americans, as the president alleges, is a crime and should be handled by criminal law
- For years, civil libertarians like myself warned cities, which are overwhelmingly governed by Democrats, about dangers of creating massive government surveillance tools that track daily activities. They mostly ignored us until they met the second Trump administration www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
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- While fewer women than men are incarcerated, their numbers are rising faster. Up to 80% of women in prison worldwide have an identifiable mental illness & in Europe, suicide rates for women in prison are 9x higher than for the general population, according to WHO www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
- New DOJ report finds that the rate of violent crime in the United States fell by 5% from 2022 to 2023. Rates of homicide fell 11%, rape fell 10%, and aggravated assault fell 4%. Robbery rate was not significantly different from the rate in 2022. bjs.ojp.gov/document/ckl...
- The US deported 252 Venezuelans to El Salvador and paid its government to imprison them, despite clear evidence of human-rights abuses. Now @hrw.org and Cristosal have found that all the men were physically abused www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
- US citizen high school student arrested by ICE during school lunch period. A follow up report suggests he was arrested after filming ICE agents in a parking lot. (A) You have a constitutional right to film ICE. (B) ICE doesnt have legal authority to arrest US citizen www.opb.org/article/2025...
- This is an affront to the basic civil rights of all people in Israel, but especially anyone that the government labels a terrorist. Proposed law would impose the death penalty within 90 days, without an ability to appeal the decision www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
- Most incarcerated women are the primary caregivers for their children. When they are jailed, their children are 12x more likely to end up in foster care and face long-term psychological and educational harm. www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
- Big kudos to @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social for continuing to model good leadership by requesting a meeting with President Trump. This speaks volumes about his willingness to focus on what's best for New Yorkers, and not to let some silly notion of pride get in the way www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
- Granted that Texas gerrymandering maps appear to unconstitutionally rely on race and CA's did not, if the whole justification for CA gerrymandering was to respond to TX gerrymandering, what's the justification for CA if the TX efforts are struck down by the courts? www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-r...
- I took my @princeton.edu Policy Advocacy Clinic students to Washington State as part of their research on solitary confinement. We met with @chriswblackwell.bsky.social in prison, whose writing brings solitary to life, and we attended symposium of families w/ loved ones in prison. All very powerful
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- The Zikim border crossing, which separates Israel and northern Gaza, has reopened after being closed for two months, allowing more than 5,400 metric tonnes of aid to be collected between Thursday and Sunday, including shelter, medical and food items, according to OCHA news.un.org/en/story/202...
- "The fantasies of Ministers Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir & other fanatics in Netanyahu's coalition have been put to rest, replaced by international plan that includes Arab forces in Gaza and path to Palestinian statehood. That by itself is important development" www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
- The UN Security Council resolution states that the International Stabilization Force will operate in Gaza until the end of 2027. It's our job to make sure that this international force will be used to lay the foundation for a future Palestinian State
