Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Professor Kellen R. Funk, of Columbia Law School, for our second episode on bail and bail reform. Today’s conversation is part two of last week’s topic and follows up on some of the same ideas; Aaron and Dr. Funk discuss the bail system, what bail is and what it means for our society, as well as how the issues of bail relate to the broader problems of our criminal justice system as a whole.

In today’s episode, Dr. Funk and Aaron address what it is that people need to understand about bail, touching on the topics of pre-trial detention and custody, civil justice, safety, bail and affordability, American history, the role of Judges and more. Dr. Funk explains the systemic implications bail bond decisions can have on communities as well as the importance of understanding what he refers to as the “lived reality” of many. Aaron and Professor Funk also talk about presumption of innocence, safety and risk, poverty and inequality, disadvantaged communities, bail schedules, and judicial discretion. 

Dr. Funk is a legal historian with expertise in civil procedure and remedies. A graduate of both Yale Law School and Princeton University (Ph.D.), Professor Funk has written on the history of civil litigation practices in the U.S., the development and reform of the American bail system, and the juridical processes of churches and religious groups. His areas of study include data analytics, legal history, litigation and dispute resolution, and social justice and human rights with areas of specialty in history of the practice and professions of law, pretrial procedure and bail bonding, the development of federal equity, religious freedom and pluralism, and digital text analysis. Dr. Funk’s scholarship combines historical research methods with data science, and he is piloting a project to digitize the paper filings for nearly ever civil case litigated in New York County in the 19th century.

Professor Funk joined the Columbia Law faculty in 2018 after completing his Ph.D. in American history. His first book, The Lawyers’ Code, will be published by Oxford University Press next year; it explores how the 1848 enactment of New York’s Field Code shaped the field of American civil procedure by merging law and equity, accelerating creditors’ remedies, and giving lawyers supremacy over the rules of litigation.

Listen now!

To learn more about Professor Funk, please click here.

*Professor Funk is working on his first book, The Lawyers’ Code, which he anticipates being published early next year.

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Kellen R. Funk

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