Bio
Emma A. Andersson is the deputy director of the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project. Her practice includes litigation relating to police practices, indigent defense reform, marijuana law reform, and federal and state sentencing. Emma was previously a senior staff attorney with CLRP, a fellow with the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project, a fellow at Bernabei & Wachtel PLLC, and a law clerk for Judge Richard Paez in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and Barnard College.
Featured work
Mar 18, 2023
Celebrating 60 Years of Gideon v. Wainwright
![The exterior of the Supreme Court.](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2023/03/GW_Blog-400x400.jpg)
Mar 8, 2022
If You Care About Freedom, You Should Be Asking Why We Don’t Fund Our Public Defender Systems
![A statue of Lady Justice with a stack of books in the background.](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2022/03/PublicDefenders_Blog-400x400.jpg)
Mar 23, 2021
Ending Qualified Immunity Once and For All is the Next Step in Holding Police Accountable
![A Minneapolis, MN, police car rear license plate is shown that says "POLICE"](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2021/03/web21-minneapolispolicecar-qualified-immunity-blo-Wordpress-1110x740-1-400x400.jpg)
Mar 16, 2021
How the Stimulus Can Help Decriminalize Poverty
![A close-up of the corner of a stimulus check.](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2021/03/WEB21-Stimulus-Check-Standard-1110x740-1-400x400.jpg)
Mar 15, 2019
The Supreme Court Didn’t Put the Nail in Civil Asset Forfeiture’s Coffin
![Supreme Court in the Winter](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2019/09/web19-supremecourtwinter-1160x768_0-400x400.jpg)
Feb 12, 2019
‘Policing For Profit’ Is Alive and Well in South Carolina
![Police Outside Home](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2019/09/web19-policeoutsidehome-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Jul 11, 2018
When Your Constitutional Rights Are Violated but You Lose Anyway
![Prison Door](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2019/09/web17-prisondoor-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
May 24, 2018
Why Low-Level Offenders Can Get Longer Sentences Than Airplane Hijackers
![Blind justice in an empty courthouse](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2019/09/web17-justicecourthouse-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Apr 9, 2018
The Supreme Court Gives Police a Green Light to ‘Shoot First and Think Later’
![Police officer with hand on his gun](https://assets-dev.aclu.org/dev/uploads/2019/09/web17-policehandgun-1160x768-400x400.jpg)