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Elise C. Funke,

Director

Elise C. Funke graduated with honors from Columbia Law School in 2017 and began her practice as a BigLaw general litigator in New York City, where she focused on white-collar criminal defense; SEC and DOJ investigations; international arbitration; and pro bono bail reform, parole, clemency, and civil rights matters. Prior to joining Prison Lights, Elise worked as a public defender and civil rights attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For over ten years, Elise has been consistently involved in civil rights advocacy, criminal defense work, and restorative justice mediation. She has worked for seven different public defenders’ offices in three states. Additionally, she assisted five individuals facing potential life sentences in successfully securing parole. Elise has received multiple awards for her criminal, post-conviction, and restorative justice work. As a restorative justice mediator, she facilitated over 50 restorative family-group conferences for at-risk and criminally involved youth in Minneapolis, Minnesota and successfully diverted them from the criminal justice system. She has also litigated federal and state civil rights cases in New York and New Mexico concerning cruel and unusual punishment in prisons, unconstitutional conditions of confinement, police brutality, malicious prosecution, due process violations, false arrest, and unlawful retaliation.

In her free time, Elise enjoys rock climbing, hiking, skiing, and international travel. She has visited over 25 countries and is working toward her goal of summiting the 100 tallest mountains in the United States.  

 

Credentials

Education

• J.D., Columbia Law School, 2017

  • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (for superior academic achievement)
  • Human Rights Law Review, Articles Editor
  • Challenging the Consequences of Mass Incarceration Legal Clinic
  • Latino/a Law Student Association Moot Court 

 

• B.A., summa cum laude, Linguistics & English, Northeastern University, 2013

  • Delta National Leadership Award
  • Wendy Breen Kline Humanitarian Award
  • Honors Fellows Research Grant Award

 

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2023
  • New Mexico, 2022
  • New York, 2018

 

Representative Cases

  • May-Shaw v. City of New York, et al., 17-CV-05591 (E.D.N.Y.)
  • Mathis v. Centurion Correctional Healthcare, et al., 22-CV-00020 (D.N.M.)
  • Encinias v. New Mexico Corrections Department, et al., No. 21-CV-01145 (D.N.M.)
  • Miera v. Centurion Correctional Healthcare, et al., No. 21-CV-01227 (D.N.M.)
  • Sanchez, et al. v. Herrera, et al., D-101-CV-2022-03680 (N.M. 2d Dist. Ct.)
  • Austin v. Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners, et al., D-202-CV-2021-07151 (N.M. 2d Dist. Ct.)
  • Hallum v. New Mexico Corrections Department, et al., No. D-101-CV-2022-00802 (N.M. 1st Dist. Ct.)

 

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