Cristina de Arana is a 2023 Law and Public Policy Scholar. She serves as the Co-President of the Criminal Justice committee for Temple’s chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Cristina graduated from the University of Delaware in 2017, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies.
Prior to attending law school, Cristina interned for the Delaware Juvenile Civil Citation Program, an alternative-to-arrest program serving youth in the State of Delaware. After her time at the Juvenile Civil Citation Program, Cristina worked as an investigative intern at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. There, she collaborated with community members to collect mitigation materials, utilized her bilingual language skills to consult with clients and translate police footage, among other investigative techniques. Interning at the Public Defender Services was a formative experience which encouraged her to pursue other social justice organizations, namely abolitionist organizations. Thereafter, Cristina served as the first undergraduate intern at the Abolitionist Law Center in Philadelphia, where she conducted research on solitary confinement practices in the United States and presented these findings at a state-wide bill convening in support of HB-497/SB-832.
Most recently, Cristina worked as a legal intern for the American Civil Liberties Union – New Jersey affiliate. As a Law and Public Policy Scholar, Cristina is interning for the Nationalities Service Center’s Pennsylvania Immigrant Family Unity Project. Her policy interests include criminal procedure, immigration law, international human rights, and social justice lawyering.