She was born in West Germany and became a Dutch citizen to run for political office.

After attending public grammar school and the Goethe Gymnasium, Böhler began the study of law and philosophy in 1979 at the Albert-Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg.

[1] In 1992, Böhler received a PhD in law from Albert-Ludwigs Universität: having written a thesis on the legal philosopher, Gerhart Husserl: Leben und Werk (Life and Work).

South Africa and its people left a strong impression on Böhler and led her to politicize her practice of law.

[1] Between 1994 and 1995 she was a lawyer at Van den Biessen en Prakke, a left wing law firm.

[4] She also defended Volkert van der Graaf, the murderer of Pim Fortuyn, since 2002[5] and represented people who did not want Jorge Zorreguieta to attend the marriage of his daughter Máxima Zorreguieta and crown prince Willem-Alexander.

She changed to GreenLeft because "self realization and the individual take a central place in their program and because the party pays close attention to the conservation and defense of the principles of the Rechtsstaat".

[11] She was a member of the committees on European Cooperation, Finance, Justice, Agriculture, Nature and food quality, Social affairs and employment, Defense, Development cooperation and housing, Spatial planning and the environment / housing and integration, as well as the committee on Justice and Home Affairs Council, which oversees Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters of the European Union.