Bio
Andrea Woods is a former Staff Attorney with the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project. She focuses on bail and pretrial justice, seeking to end wealth-based pretrial detention, dramatically reduce our nation’s 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
![Protester with raised fist in the air at Fulton County Jail after the death of Lashawn Thompson.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/08/fulton-county-jail-protest-f-400x266.jpg)
Aug 3, 2023
The Deadly and Tragic Costs of Pretrial Detention
![LGBTQ flag with police in the background.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/06/lgbtq-flag-with-police-in-background-f-400x266.jpg)
Jun 23, 2023
Pride Has Always Been About Ending Mass Incarceration
![The 'Law & Order' title.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/04/LO_Blog-400x266.jpg)
Apr 21, 2022
The Law & Order Reboot Could Not Come at a Worse Time for Criminal Law Reform
![Photo of a bail bonds shop at night.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/09/Bail-Reform-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Sep 24, 2020
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: A Cautionary Tale About Bail “Reform” in Georgia
![A row of general population inmates, handcuffed and in orange jumpsuits, walk in a line at San Quentin State Prison.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/09/CJ-Incarcerated-People-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Sep 15, 2020
Federal Judges are Failing Incarcerated People During the Pandemic
![Photo of prison cell bars.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/07/COVID-Litigation-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Jul 27, 2020
Incarcerated People are Still Dying of COVID-19, and We’re Still Fighting to Save Them
![A gloved hand points to a holding cell in a Los Angeles jail.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/05/Dallas-COVID-Header-Image-1-400x266.jpg)
May 12, 2020
Dallas County Officials are Leaving Vulnerable People to Catch COVID-19 in Jail
![A gavel and a pair of handcuffs on a pile of money.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/02/web20-nashvillebail-blogimage-wordpress-1110x740-400x266.jpg)
Feb 5, 2020
Using Bail as Ransom Violates the Core Tenets of Pretrial Justice
![Image of an ankle monitor being worn](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/ankle-monitor-400x266.jpg)
Aug 21, 2019
An Arizona Law Requires Surveillance of People Who Are Presumed Innocent
![Women standing by bunk in jail cell](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-womens-jail-bunks-1160x768-400x266.jpg)
May 7, 2019
Mistakenly Jailed Pretrial, an Ohio Mother Lost Her Job and Kids