Arenda L. Wright Allen

Arenda Lauretta Wright Allen (born December 9, 1960) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She formerly worked as an assistant United States attorney and a federal public defender in Norfolk, Virginia.

Early life and education Born in Philadelphia, Wright Allen graduated from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (then called Kutztown State College) with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982 and later from North Carolina Central University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1985. In May 2013, Wright Allen was awarded an honorary doctorate from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Career Wright Allen started her legal career as a Judge Advocate General's Corps officer in the United States Navy as an active duty officer between 1985 and 1990 and in the United States Navy Reserve between 1992 and 2005. She was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia from 2001 to 2005. Wright Allen joined the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2005, where she had served as a Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender until becoming a federal judge in 2011. She received her judicial commission the following day. She assumed senior status on May 13, 2026. In her ruling, Allen inadvertently attributed the principle that "all men are created equal" to the U.S. Constitution, rather than the Declaration of Independence – an error which she corrected in a subsequent amended ruling.

Personal life Allen is married to Delroy Allen, a retired Jamaican-American soccer player.