Maryam Ahranjani

Professor of Law

Ronald and Susan Friedman Professor

Education

LLM, University of Pennsylvania Law School
JD, American University Washington College of Law
BSEd (magna cum laude in Social Policy), Northwestern University

Member, District of Columbia Bar

Contact Information

Ph.: 505-277-2113
Office: 3238
maryam.ahranjani@law.unm.edu

Profile

Professor Maryam Ahranjani teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional rights, criminal law and procedure, and education law.

An internationally-recognized expert on education law, Professor Ahranjani has authored numerous book chapters, law review articles, and other articles. Co-author of the textbook Youth Justice in America (2nd ed. 2014), she has published in the American University Law Review, American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Denver University Law Review, Hofstra Law Review, Journal of College and University Law, Minnesota Law Review Headnotes, South Carolina Law Review, Seattle University Law Review, and The Washington Post.

Professor Ahranjani thoroughly enjoys community and professional service, including speaking with the media about issues of public significance. In addition to serving as faculty advisor to several student groups, she volunteers with several local and national non-profit boards and organizations. Professor Ahranjani currently serves as the Reporter of the ABA Women in Criminal Justice Task Force, co-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section Women in Criminal Justice Committee, and a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Silver Gavel Awards. She also serves as faculty advisor to the UNMSOL chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

Professor Ahranjani has received wide recognition for her scholarship, teaching and service. In 2023, the Association of American Law Schools awarded her the Deborah L. Rhode Award. She was elected an American Bar Foundation Fellow and named an Albuquerque Woman of Influence in 2021. In 2020, she received the ABA’s Raeder-Taslitz Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching criminal law. For her “commitment to excellent teaching, community engagement and innovative pedagogy,” Professor Ahranjani was named the 2019-2020 UNM New Teacher of the Year. In 2019, Professor Ahranjani received the Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the Education Law Association.

Prior to joining the law school faculty, Professor Ahranjani served as an international legal consultant in Guatemala City. Fluent in Spanish and Persian, she worked for the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and ABA Rule of Law Initiative on human rights trainings for Guatemalan government officials, assessment of youth migration intervention programs, and creation of civic education programs. She also previously taught and worked at American University Washington College of Law, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and several law schools in Latin America.

Courses

Education Law

Public Education and the Constitution

Constitutional Rights

This course involves an in-depth inquiry into the building blocks of civil rights law; freedom of expression (speech and press), equal protection, due process, and religious freedom. There will be discussion of litigation strategy and the decision-making processes of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Criminal Law I

This course considers the general principles of substantive criminal law and evaluates them in terms of the various purposes that justify a system of criminal punishment. It will include an analysis of the doctrines of mens rea attempt, complicity, and conspiracy as well as certain crimes such as homicide and certain defenses such as self-defense.

Criminal Procedure

See Professor for course description.

Criminal Sentencing

See Professor for course description.

Practicum

The Practicum Course is not really a separate course; rather, it is a hands-on, practice-based extension of the Torts, Contracts, and Criminal Law courses. Students explore the theoretical connections among the three courses in the context of resolving simulated but realistic client problems. The course stresses practical and analytical skills through writing exercises while also exploring substantive law questions that are addressed in other first semester courses.

Publications

Books & Book Chapters

Erecting a Virtual Schoolhouse Gate, Constitutional Knowledge and Its Impact on Citizenship Exercise in a Networked Society (Ana Melro and Lídia Oliveira ed. 2019).
Available at: UNM-DR

Youth Justice in America (2014) (co-authored with Andrew G. Ferguson and Jamin B. Raskin).
Available at: UNM-DR

High School to Law School: Marshall-Brennan and Moot Court, The Education Pipeline to the Professions: Programs that Work to Increase Diversity (Sarah E. Redfield ed. 2012).
Available at: UNM-DR

The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project: A Case Study in Law and Social Justice, Childhood, Youth, and Social Work in Transformation: Implications for Policy and Practice (Lynn M. Nybell et al. ed. 2009).
Available at: UNM-DR

Articles

The Constitutional Costs Of School Policing, 72 American University Law Review 337 (2022) (co-authored with Natalie Saing).
Available at: UNM-DR

Sprinting a Marathon: Next Steps for Gender Equity in Criminal Law Employment, 106 MINN. L. REV. 228 (2022).
Available at: UNM-DR

The Role of Lawyers in Bridging the Gap between the Robust Federal Rights to Education and Relatively Low Education Outcomes in Guatemala, 2021 AUCTORITAS PRUDENTIUM 25 (2021).
Available at: UNM-DR

“ Toughen Up, Buttercup" versus #TimesUp: Initial Findings of the ABA Women in Criminal Justice Task Force, 25 J. BERKELEY J. CRIM. L. 99 (2020).
Available at: UNM-DR

School "Safety" Measures Jump Constitutional Guardrails, 44 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 273 (2020).
Available at: UNM-DR

Universities as “Sanctuaries,” 44 J. C. & U.L. 1 (2018).
Available at: UNM-DR

The Prisonization of America’s Public Schools: Prioritizing “Security” over Privacy, 45 HOFSTRA L. REV. 4 (2017).
Available at: UNM-DR

Evaluating High School Students’ Constitutional and Civic Literacy: A Case Study of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project 90 D.U. L. REV. 917 (2013) (co-authored with Jeffrey J. Shook and Caleb Medearis).
Available at: UNM-DR

Can They Do That to Me?! Does the 8th Amendment Protection Children’s Best Interests? 63 S.C. LAW REV. 403 (2011).
Available at: UNM-DR

Mary Daly v. Boston College: The Impermissibility of Single-Sex Classes in Private Universities, 9 AM. U.J.G. SOC. POL'Y & L. 179 (2001).
Available at: UNM-DR

Bar & Trade Publications

Pulling Back the Curtain: A Follow-Up Report from the ABA Criminal Justice Section Women in Criminal Justice Task Force, CRIM. JUST. (October 2, 2021).
Available at: UNM-DR

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Women in Criminal Justice Task Force , CRIM. JUST. (October 26, 2020).
Available at: UNM-DR

Developing Youth Voices, CLEO EDGE 52 (Winter/Spring 2020).
Available at: UNM-DR

Listening Session Participants Express Feelings of Isolation – and Demonstrate Resilience, CRIM. L. 52 (Fall 2019).
Available at: Criminal Justice

What Does Immigration Status Have to do with Law School, CLEO 50 (2018).
Available at: UNM-DR

Presentations

Women's TaskForce, and Training the Next Generation of Criminal Justice Leaders, ABA CJS Fall Institute (November 19, 2020)
Abstract at: ABA CJS

Popular Press

Why are Women Lawyers Underrepresented in Criminal Justice?, TYL MAG. (March 31, 2021).
Available at: UNM-DR

Task Force Ops: Initial Findings from the Women in Criminal Justice Task Forc‪e, THE JUSTPOD (March 3, 2021).
Available at: UNM-DR

Immigration Trends in the D.C. Area and What They Mean for Public Education, THE WASHINGTON POST (July 9, 2004).

Young Lawyers Rising Podcast, Breaking Barriers: Women in Criminal Law, American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (Oct. 20, 2022).
Available at: UNM-DR

Teaching Resources

We've Got Letters: Three Integrated Curriculum Guides For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program, 17 THE WASHINGTON POST (2017).
Available at: UNM-DR
Available at: We've Got Letters

National Constitution Day Teaching Modules, BAND OF RIGHTS (2005-2013).
Available at: UNM-DR
Available at: Band of Rights

Awards

2023 AALS Deborah L. Rhode Award
Affiliated Faculty, UNM Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program
Ronald & Susan Friedman Faculty Excellence Award (2022-2023)
Woody Award for "Most Supportive Faculty Member" from the UNMSOL Class of 2022
2021 Woman of Influence, Albuqueruque Business First
Rader-Taslitz Award, ABA Criminal Justice Section
Don L. & Mabel F. Dickason Professorship for a three-year term (2019-2022).
2019-2020 UNM New Teacher of the Year Award
2019 Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the Education Law Association
Lee & Leon Karelitz Professor of Evidence and Procedure, UNMSOL (2018-2019)