News & Commentary written by Andrea Woods

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Andrea Woods

Former Staff Attorney

Criminal Law Reform Project

Bio

Andrea Woods is a former Staff Attorney with the 桃子视频Criminal Law Reform Project. She focuses on bail and pretrial justice, seeking to end wealth-based pretrial detention, dramatically reduce our nation鈥檚 use of jails, and eliminate the exploitation of people who have been arrested. She has brought challenges to post-arrest systems of incarceration due to inability to pay money bail, inadequate access to public defenders, for-profit pretrial GPS conditions, overbroad systems of pretrial detention, the right of public access to court proceedings, and the extortionate practice of bounty hunting. She also engages in policy advocacy in dozens of states, including on the dangers of pretrial risk assessments. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, the Appeal, CNBC, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dallas Morning News, and numerous other local news outlets Andrea has worked in public defender offices, the anti-death penalty movement, and with the Innocence Project Northwest as a law student. She was a William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholar at the University of Washington, graduating in 2014. Prior to joining the ACLU, Andrea clerked for the Hon. John C. Coughenour of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.


Featured work

Aug 3, 2023

The Deadly and Tragic Costs of Pretrial Detention

The Deadly and Tragic Costs of Pretrial Detention

Jun 23, 2023

Pride Has Always Been About Ending Mass Incarceration

Pride Has Always Been About Ending Mass Incarceration

Apr 21, 2022

The Law & Order Reboot Could Not Come at a Worse Time for Criminal Law Reform

The Law & Order Reboot Could Not Come at a Worse Time for Criminal Law Reform

Sep 24, 2020

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: A Cautionary Tale About Bail 鈥淩eform鈥 in Georgia

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: A Cautionary Tale About Bail 鈥淩eform鈥 in Georgia

Sep 15, 2020

Federal Judges are Failing Incarcerated People During the Pandemic

Federal Judges are Failing Incarcerated People During the Pandemic

Jul 27, 2020

Incarcerated People are Still Dying of COVID-19, and We鈥檙e Still Fighting to Save Them

Incarcerated People are Still Dying of COVID-19, and We鈥檙e Still Fighting to Save Them

May 12, 2020

Dallas County Officials are Leaving Vulnerable People to Catch COVID-19 in Jail

Dallas County Officials are Leaving Vulnerable People to Catch COVID-19 in Jail

Feb 5, 2020

Using Bail as Ransom Violates the Core Tenets of Pretrial Justice

Using Bail as Ransom Violates the Core Tenets of Pretrial Justice

Aug 21, 2019

An Arizona Law Requires Surveillance of People Who Are Presumed Innocent

An Arizona Law Requires Surveillance of People Who Are Presumed Innocent

May 7, 2019

Mistakenly Jailed Pretrial, an Ohio Mother Lost Her Job and Kids

Mistakenly Jailed Pretrial, an Ohio Mother Lost Her Job and Kids