Dr. Paulina Arnold

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Paulina D. Arnold is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Law School, specializing in areas related to coercive state power, criminal law, civil procedure, civil confinement, and immigration law. Her research focuses on the justifications for civil confinement and the formal legal doctrines that restrict or permit governmental power to incarcerate. She critically examines the tensions and incoherencies between civil and criminal carceral systems, interrogating the state's power to confine individuals in the absence of explicitly punitive goals. Before her current position, Arnold was a Forrester Fellow at Tulane Law School and served as a staff attorney at CASA Maryland, where she supported working-class immigrant communities through direct representation and legislative advocacy while assisting in impact litigation. Arnold's featured scholarship includes her work on how immigration detention has become a distinct legal issue in the Stanford Law Review.

Research Interests

Experience

Assistant Professor

2024-09-01 — Present

University of Michigan Law School • Ann Arbor, MI

Teaches and researches in the areas of coercive state power, criminal law, civil procedure, civil confinement, and immigration law.

Forrester Fellow

— Present

Tulane Law School •

Staff Attorney

— Present

CASA Maryland •

Supported working-class immigrant communities through direct representation and legislative advocacy.

Requirements for University of Michigan

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
TOEFL
Total
Required:84
GRE General
Verbal
Required:155
Verbal Percentile
Required:50
Quantitative
Required:168
Quantitative Percentile
Required:50
Analytical Writing
Required:3.6
Writing Percentile
Required:50
Prerequisites
Bachelor degree in engineering, physics, or mathematics Calculus Physics
Application Checklist
  • Rackham Graduate School Application
  • Official Transcripts
  • 3 Letters of Recommendation
  • Academic Statement of Purpose
  • Personal Statement
  • CV/Resume
Specialization Notes

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science