Andrea C. James

Andrea C. James is an American human rights activist. A former attorney, she was disbarred and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in 2009. Since her release, James has called for reform of the criminal justice system, including the end of the incarceration of women.

Biography James was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated with a bachelor's from University of Massachusetts, Boston and a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University, returning to Boston to work as a criminal defence and real estate conveyance attorney in Roxbury.

In 2008, James was temporarily suspended as a licensed attorney after being accused of misappropriating client funds. In 2009, she was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison on charges of wire fraud. In 2010, James was formally disbarred by the Supreme Court of Suffolk County.

James served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury in Danbury, Connecticut. She subsequently stated that conditions in the prison were poor, and that prisoners were treated with "scorn and rebuke" by prison staff. Following her sentence, James was ordered to pay $1,141,861.22, in addition to serving three years of supervised release. James' attempt to appeal the fine and her disbarment on the basis of her previous work supporting disadvantaged communities was unsuccessful.

In 2021, James launched the #FreeHer campaign, pushing the administration of Joe Biden to grant clemency to 100 identified incarcerated women whom James felt had been imprisoned for too long.