Udi Ofer is the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs and Co. Visiting Professor and Lecturer of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is the founding Director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic at Princeton University, a highly intensive clinical program that immerses students in the policy advocacy process, including before the United Nations, Congress, and state government. His research focuses on constitutional rights and human rights law. He teaches courses on policing and constitutional rights, policy advocacy, and human rights advocacy. He is an elected member of the Council on Criminal Justice. He is also Chair of the International Advisory Council of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Ofer has more than 20 years of experience as a constitutional rights lawyer working on issues related to criminal justice reform, national security, free speech and racial justice. For two decades, Ofer worked as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where he helped to transform the organization, expanding its work into new issue areas and tactics. Ofer's work has led to passage of hundreds of laws and policies across the nation. 

From 2016-2022, Ofer was the Deputy National Political Director of the ACLU and the founding Director of the ACLU’s Justice Division, leading the ACLU’s advocacy on criminal justice reform, including before the White House and Congress, and securing policy victories in states across the nation. He is best known for building the ACLU's Campaign for Smart Justice. From 2013-2016, Ofer served as Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. Under his leadership the organization achieved victories on a range of issues, including bail reform, drug law reform, and police reform. From 2003-2013, Ofer worked at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he began as the founding Director of the New York Bill of Rights Defense Campaign, which focused on national security and civil liberties issues, and founded the Advocacy Department, where he challenged the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices and spearheaded the successful effort to pass legislation banning racial profiling by the NYPD and creating an NYPD Inspector General’s office. 

Ofer began his legal career in 2001 as a Skadden Fellow at My Sisters’ Place, a domestic violence organization. He was an adjunct professor at New York Law School from 2009-2012, and has published widely in leading law reviews. Ofer’s work and commentary have been featured in hundreds of national and local news outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and PBS Frontline. He has testified before many legislatures, including the United States Senate, and is frequently cited as an expert on constitutional rights and criminal justice matters. His work and research have been cited in legal opinions issued by numerous courts, including the New Jersey Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Tenth Circuits, as well as in more than 150 law review articles.

Ofer is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Graduate Award from Fordham Law School, a presidential award from the Open Society Foundations, and a proclamation from the New York City Council for contributions made by his work to the city and state. He is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Recent Publications and Media Appearances:

9/9/25: Princeton’s Udi Ofer is choreographing a rare consensus across partisan lines

6/11/25: SPIA Undergraduates Headed to UN in Geneva to Advocate for Change (Princeton Alumni Weekly)

6/3/25: Bipartisan Group Facilitated by Princeton SPIA Issues Criminal Justice Reform Principles

4/10/25: At Princeton SPIA DC Center, VA Secretary Collins Highlights Discussions on Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform

3/11/25: As ICE targets a Palestinian activist, some Jews are asking if this is the fight against antisemitism they signed up for (Jewish Telegraph Agency)

11/29/24: Renewed crackdown on free speech aims to overwhelm US student protests (Middle East Eye)

9/13/24: From Clinton to Trump, how talk about crime has changed since a landmark bill (NPR)

9/3/24 - Bipartisan Criminal-Justice Reform is Still Very Much Alive (The Atlantic)

8/21/24 - If Israel Cannot Curb the Horrific Abuse of Palestinian Detainees in its Prisons, International Tribunals Will (The Forward) 

2/23/24 - Biden Has New Authority To Stop Israeli Settler Violence. His Choices May Shape Palestine's Future. (Huffington Post)

1/26/24 - Why Israel's Supreme Court Must Remain a Strong Check on Power—Especially Now (Newsweek)

12/22/23 - Biden Commutes Drug Sentences for 11 and Expands Marijuana Pardons (The New York Times)

12/12/23- N.J. Lawmakers move bill forward to give some civilian review boards subpoena power (New Jersey Monitor)

11/10/23 - Israeli Civil and Human Rights Degrade in a Time of War (The American Prospect)

10/29/23 - ‘This is our 9/11': The words are like alarm bells for some New Yorkers (Gothamist)

9/14/23 - The Case for Marijuana Legalization (Newsweek)

7/17/23 - 'Anti-Fusion Voting' Laws and the Problem with a Two-Party System (New Jersey Law Journal)

6/8/23 - It's Time to Decriminalize Personal Possession of All Drugs. Yes, All of Them. (Newsweek)

5/16/23 - Two Decades of Prison Did Not Prepare Me for the Horrors of County Jail (The New York Times)

2/9/23 - 3 Proposals to Prevent Police Violence and Build Accountability (The Hill)

11/3/22 - Politicians' Tough-on-Crime Messaging Could Have Devastating Consequences (TIME Magazine)

10/6/22 - Biden Pardons Thousands Convicted of Marijuana Possession Under Federal Law (The New York Times)

9/20/22 - There's No Excuse for Allowing the Savage Cocaine Injustice to Persist (The Washington Post)

6/1/22 - The Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety Is a Foundation to Build Upon (Center for American Progress)