Jeff Decker is a Ph.D. candidate in U.S. History, with a focus on law and politics in the twentieth century. His dissertation, "The Conservative Legal Movement and American Government, 1971-1987," examines the public-policy consequences of legal activism during the Reagan era. For the 2007-08 academic year, he is a fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, at the University of Virginia.

A former journalist, Jeff was the managing editor of Boston Review from 1999-2001. He received his B.A. in 1997 from Amherst College.