Udi Ofer
@uofer.bsky.social
1.2K followers 220 following 250 posts
Teach constitutional 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.
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uofer.bsky.social
[email protected] this morning with an important reminder of how difficult it is to hold federal law enforcement accountable for wrongdoing due to decades of bad SCOTUS precedent & terrible congressional laws that make accountability nearly impossible: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-182-...
Bonus 182: Damages as a (Missing) Deterrent
It's worth reflecting on how different things might look right now if federal officers—or the federal government itself—faced a meaningful specter of monetary liability for constitutional violations.
www.stevevladeck.com
uofer.bsky.social
“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut wrote. “Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation.” www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Courts confront militarized cities as Trump tests the waters with National Guard deployments
The effort has spawned a series of legal battles over whether the nation must accept this as a new way of life.
www.politico.com
uofer.bsky.social
We continue to live in upside down world, where Republicans are calling for bigger federal government to take control over state resources and Dems are protecting states from federal incursions. Read complaint Illinois vs Trump on National Guard deployment: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
uofer.bsky.social
Studies evaluating tens of millions of miles driven by Waymo found that compared with human-driven vehicles, Waymo cars are involved in 96% fewer vehicle-to-vehicle crashes at intersections; 90% fewer bodily-injury claims; and 92% fewer pedestrian injuries www.derekthompson.org/p/self-drivi...
uofer.bsky.social
Gaza talks, which start tomorrow in Egypt, will include Khalil al-Hayya as the representative of Hamas. Israel attempted to kill al-Hayya three weeks ago, and did kill his son. Now they have to negotiate with him www.wsj.com/world/middle...
In Gaza Talks, Hamas Will Be Led by a Man Israel Just Tried To Kill
Khalil al-Hayya, whose son was killed in the Qatar strike, will lead the group in negotiations that could test President Trump’s optimism.
www.wsj.com
uofer.bsky.social
This is bonkers even by this Administration's standards. This is the front page of HUD's website right now. As a reminder, the 1939 Hatch Act restricts political activities by government agencies and employees. www.hud.gov#close
uofer.bsky.social
I'm all for Mamdani in NYC but a national strategy is very different than an NYC strategy, especially when you look at the fact that 23 states are completely controlled by Republicans vs 15 states by Dems. What's the strategy to win in 11 states with divided govt?
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Progressive Democrats plot path forward with ‘Persuasion 2025’ event
Left-leaning politicians and strategists host event to diagnose Democrats’ 2024 failings.
www.politico.com
uofer.bsky.social
Looking forward to my talk tomorrow making the case that even in the age of Trump 2.0 and heightened polarization, criminal justice reform can win and is in fact winning in many states. If you're in the Princeton area, would love to see you
uofer.bsky.social
"Mayors said that the most effective crime reduction strategies for juvenile offense are mentoring assistance, along with violence intervention programs. Seven in 10 of the city leaders said they do not have adequate funding for youth programs." www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Big city mayors say juvenile crime is 'serious'
As Trump threatens more cities with the National Guard, mayors say they need different kind of federal help.
www.politico.com
Reposted by Udi Ofer
princeton.edu
This spring, Princeton's @uofer.bsky.social unobtrusively accomplished a feat of across-the-aisle magic, bringing hard-right and hard-left factions together to approve a shared set of principles for criminal justice reform in America.
Princeton's Udi Ofer is choreographing a rare consensus across partisan lines
A bipartisan effort to reform criminal justice policy, led by Ofer and Princeton SPIA, has buy-in from both CPAC and the ACLU, among others.
www.princeton.edu
uofer.bsky.social
Outrageous: Israeli government just arrested former lawmaker Zoabi for "incitement to terror," reportedly over speech she gave where she appeared to justify Hamas’s October 7 attacks. Justification of violence is wrong, but that shouldn't lead to an arrest. www.timesofisrael.com/former-balad...
Former Balad MK Hanin Zoabi arrested for alleged terrorist incitement
Retired Israeli legislator told conference in Vienna that 'you cannot differentiate between Hamas and the Palestinian people,' says October 7 attackers 'entered their own land'
www.timesofisrael.com
uofer.bsky.social
I've criticized bookstores when Israeli speakers were cancelled and were disinvited from speaking, and I will criticize bookstores when Palestinian speakers are cancelled. We must get over trying to cancel the other side. Instead, we should engage and debate. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/n...
Bookshop Cancels Event With Palestinian Author Over Community ‘Concerns’
www.nytimes.com
uofer.bsky.social
Federal Judge blocks Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children. Many of them are fleeing violence and the Trump administration has been trying to bypass legal procedures meant to protect them from being returned to violent places apnews.com/article/trum...
Judge blocks Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children
A judge is blocking the Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who came to the U.S. alone back to their home country.
apnews.com
Reposted by Udi Ofer
jeffasher.bsky.social
Vehicle burglaries in DC are falling in a manner that is very reminiscent of the COVID shutdown period.
uofer.bsky.social
Folks: my students in my Policy Advocacy Clinic have asked for a list of best podcasts on politics, especially podcasts that aren't one-sided politically and that discuss strategies to achieve policy change. I have my list, but would love your ideas. Thoughts?
uofer.bsky.social
SCTOUS has outlawed executions of people w/ intellectual disabilities but this month two people face execution in FL. When David Pittman was a child his IQ was in low 70s, indicative of intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty. Yet state wont allow him to raise this claim deathpenaltyinfo.org/two-schedule...
deathpenaltyinfo.org
uofer.bsky.social
Most presidents start their terms with positive net approval. Both Mr Trump’s terms began with mixed reviews that then fell to negative score. His second may be following similar trajectory. It took less than two months for his approval rating to fall below zero www.economist.com/interactive/...
uofer.bsky.social
Glad to see both liberals & conservatives criticize Bondi's inaccurate statement that First Amendment doesnt protect hate speech. Important civic lesson for public to understand difference between criticizing someone for hate speech & prosecuting them for hate speech www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
‘That is not the law’: Bondi promised to target ‘hate speech.’ She’s facing backlash from all corners.
In a social media post Tuesday morning, the attorney general said the Department of Justice will go after speech “that crossed the line into threats of violence.”
www.politico.com
uofer.bsky.social
There are a variety of approaches to make it more difficult for those more likely to misuse firearms to obtain them, even within gun-rich environment where most adult citizens are allowed to acquire guns. Here are a handful that would pass constitutional muster: www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/the...
Vital City | The Case Against Futility
Why making guns slightly harder to get reduces their use in violent crime
www.vitalcitynyc.org
uofer.bsky.social
This is @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social at his best: The stakes of our politics right now are frightening as we see one another as threats. But this country will be immeasurably worse if we cannot also see what binds us, if we cannot still feel ourselves as one body politic www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/o...
www.nytimes.com
uofer.bsky.social
I agree. He should have let her explain it.
uofer.bsky.social
One of the questions that I have about Decarlos Brown that I don't see anyone asking is what could the system have done better when he was incarcerated for 6 years? What programs and support systems were in place? It's not a solution to just say that we should just lock people up forever.
uofer.bsky.social
My two decades at the ACLU, before coming to Princeton, taught me the importance of cross-ideological convergences when attempting to create sustainable change. I now get to continue this work @ Princeton, bringing stakeholders together so solve complicated problems www.princeton.edu/news/2025/09...
Princeton's Udi Ofer is choreographing a rare consensus across partisan lines
A bipartisan effort to reform criminal justice policy, led by Ofer and Princeton SPIA, has buy-in from both CPAC and the ACLU, among others.
www.princeton.edu