Kellen Funk
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kellenfunk.bsky.social
Kellen Funk
@kellenfunk.bsky.social
Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
“Even Princeton,” as they say. #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 10:48 PM
On a quick glance it would seem to me the only funds that could be readily sequestered to punish bail reform jurisdictions would be the funds that go to militarize the local police. Donald Trump: big fan of defunding the police. Put it in the papers.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Taking Steps to End Cashless Bail to Protect Americans
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and
www.whitehouse.gov
August 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Absolutely incredible graphic from 1880 tracing the history of political parties in the United States.
July 6, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Thank you to @lukenorris.bsky.social @profk.bsky.social and others at U. Richmond Law for hosting the 10th Civ Pro workshop. Lots of great papers there, as usual, but the one thing I will highlight here, because it’s a book, is …
June 3, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Congrats to the new class of Guggenheim Fellows!

Thrilled to see @jimdowns.bsky.social, @marthasjones.bsky.social, @kellenfunk.bsky.social and so many more.

Apologies in advance for the hazing rituals.

www.gf.org/stories/anno...
Announcing the 2025 Guggenheim Fellows — Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists
Since 1925, the Guggenheim Foundation has given Fellowships to exceptional artists, writers, scholars, and scientists, empowering them to pursue meaningful work under the freest possible conditions.
www.gf.org
April 15, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Blown away by amazing presentations, mostly from early career historians and archivists, at the Archives as Data conference this morning! (before heading over to #aha25 later this afternoon...)

iserp.columbia.edu/events/archi...
Archives As Data: New Directions in Historical Research | Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP)
Columbia's History Lab and Columbia Libraries proudly present a one-day conference highlighting the innovative work and new research opportunities emerging from the increasing volume of digitized and ...
iserp.columbia.edu
January 3, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
I mourn the loss of my colleague Henry Paul Monaghan, a giant in federal courts and constitutional law, a phenomenal mentor to more junior scholars, and an institution at Columbia Law School. He will be greatly missed.
January 3, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
There is so much to say about my dear mentor, Henry Monaghan. His work was foundational. His critiques, devastating. His praise, life changing. More to say in an appropriate medium, but for now: I will miss him.
January 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Call for Papers - 14th Annual Junior Federal Courts Workshop - Cornell Law School, 4/25/2025. Junior scholars in fields of federal courts, civil procedure, civil rights litigation, constitutional law are encouraged to apply. Abstracts due 1/15/25.

community.lawschool.cornell.edu/junior-facul...
14th Annual Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop – Cornell Law School Community
The workshop will begin on the morning of Friday, April 25, 2025. Each panel will consist of three to four junior scholars, with a senior scholar commenting on the papers and leading a group discussion.
community.lawschool.cornell.edu
December 19, 2024 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
A bit more fun with mapping 18th century London crime, via www.locatinglondon.org
November 12, 2024 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Two new district judge retirement announcements: Judges Lance Africk (EDLA) and Lee Rosenthal (SDTX) will assume senior status later this year.
September 20, 2024 at 11:28 AM
In the 1890s a discerning buyer could purchase a poster-size facsimile of the bail bond of Jefferson Davis from 1867. Keep in mind when you see “I’m voting for the felon” merchandise thirty years hence.
August 19, 2024 at 3:55 PM
On Friday a federal district court preliminarily enjoined Georgia's unconstitutional restrictions on charitable bail funds, relying in part on "Bail at the Founding." Cool cool cool. harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...
July 14, 2024 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Today @rrchnm.bsky.social released Antisemitism, U.S.A., our newest history podcast. www.r2studios.org/show/Antisem... The narrative podcast tells the history of U.S. antisemitism in ten episodes, featuring interviews with dozens of experts on the subject.
Antisemitism, U.S.A.
Antisemitism has deep roots in American history. Yet in the United States, we often talk about it as if it were something new. We’re shocked when events happen like…
www.r2studios.org
July 11, 2024 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Millions of people are incarcerated pre-trial because they can't make cash bail. But where did the system of cash bail come from? @kellenfunk.bsky.social and Sandra Mayson offer a history of "Bail at the Founding" in the Harvard Law Review. harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...
Bail at the Founding - Harvard Law Review
Abstract How did criminal bail work in the Founding era? This question has become pressing as bail, and bail reform, have attracted increasing attention,...
harvardlawreview.org
May 14, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Now out from me and Sandy Mayson in the Harvard Law Review: Bail at the Founding, our best efforts to reconstruct the theory and practice of pretrial criminal bail in the 1790s U.S. harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13... (cont’d)
Bail at the Founding - Harvard Law Review
Abstract How did criminal bail work in the Founding era? This question has become pressing as bail, and bail reform, have attracted increasing attention,...
harvardlawreview.org
May 13, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Got asked today to peer review a Very Short Introduction. Will have to keep it in the smuggler’s compartment I guess.
May 3, 2024 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Cool new thing! 🗃
The American Society for Legal History is seeking proposals for a session on Digital Legal History for the 2024 Annual Meeting. Details are here: aslh.confex.com/aslh/2024/cf...
December 20, 2023 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Just like Commissioner Shea had a much less critical take on bail reform when testifying under oath in Albany than he did talking—not under oath—to the press.

One need not be directly elected to be a politician, thus earning the wariness and skepticism that comes w that.
Note to journalists: retail companies never said anything like this on investor calls because they'd get sued by shareholders for securities fraud. It was all a PR stunt. Don't listen to the lobbyists, look at the disclosures to investors.
US retail lobbyists retract key claim on 'organized' retail crime
December 7, 2023 at 5:42 PM
What a relief to open an old draft and find the darlings already slain.
September 3, 2023 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
Earlier this year I published an interactive scholarly work titled "America's Public Bible: A Commentary." It's a data-driven history about how people read the Bible in the 19th- and 20th-century United States.

americaspublicbible.org

(Sharing it now since I haven't shared it here before.)
America’s Public Bible: A Commentary
Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, newspapers in the United States—even newspapers which were not published by a religious denomination or organization—made frequent...
americaspublicbible.org
August 29, 2023 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Kellen Funk
The American Society for Legal History has posted a preliminary draft of the program for the 2023 meeting. Hope to see you in Philadelphia in October! #LegalHistory
aslh.net
August 16, 2023 at 7:04 PM
A modest giant of Reconstruction history. I’m glad I got to meet him in his daughter’s chambers at the Southern District of Texas. May his memory be a blessing. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/houstonchronicle/name/harold-hyman-obituary?id=52643506
August 15, 2023 at 3:01 AM