Professor Ahrens joined Seattle University School of Law as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2007, after having been a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law this past year. She earned a B.A. from Brown University, a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and her J.D. magna cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was Senior Articles Editor of the New York University Law Review. After graduation, Professor Ahrens clerked for Judge Amalya L. Kearse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and served as a legal fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Drug Policy Litigation Project. She was an Assistant Public Defender in the Richland County Public Defender’s Office for 2-1/2 years, and taught Criminal Law and Criminal Law Seminar: Sentencing and Punishment as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.