New Feller Research Senior Lecturer to Examine Changes to Supreme Court

Dr. Michael Spivey, a senior government and politics lecturer, has been named the Joel J. Feller Research Senior Lecturer. Established in 2015, this award supports professional track faculty initiatives within the Department of Government and Politics (GVPT) at the University of Maryland.

Spivey began teaching at the University of Maryland in 2010 and became a full-time GVPT faculty member in 2015. He primarily teaches undergraduate courses on law, courts, society, and politics, and is a nationally recognized expert in health policy issues.  

Spivey intends to use the funds associated with the Feller award to support research on the changing dynamics of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“As politics have become a battle between the blue team and the red team, with the combatants often unwilling or unable to see and understand the views of their opponents, the law and the courts have historically served as a buffer. They have cooled passions and have often found the ‘moderate middle’ on issues,” Spivey said. “However, after the unwillingness of the Senate to consider the nomination of Merritt Garland to the Supreme Court, its packing of lower courts with Federalist Society ideologues, and the bruising battle over Justice Kavanaugh, the courts are at risk of becoming another bipartisan battleground.”

Spivey earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a Ph.D. in political science from UMD. He also holds master’s degrees in public policy and divinity from the University of Chicago.

About the Joel J. Feller Esquire Faculty Fund

The Joel J. Feller Esquire Faculty Fund was established in 2015 by a generous $100,000 donation from Joel and Kim Feller and family to support the needs of the Department of Government and Politics and to recruit and retain highly qualified faculty.

Joel Feller is a 1990 graduate of the Department of Government and Politics, serves as a trustee for the University of Maryland College Park Foundation and is a founding partner at the firm Ross Feller Casey, LLP in Philadelphia. His wife Kim is a 1989 graduate from UMD.

This story was originally published January 27, 2020.

Published on Mon, Jan 27, 2020 - 2:25PM