Caroline Fredrickson is a senior fellow at the Brennan Center. She served as the president of the American Constitution Society from 2009 to 2019, overseeing the growth of the organization, which now has lawyer chapters across the country, student chapters in nearly every law school in the United States, and thousands of members nationwide. She was an eloquent spokesperson for ACS and the progressive movement on issues such as civil and human rights, judicial nominations and the importance of the courts in the United States, marriage equality, voting rights, the role of money in politics, labor law, antidiscrimination efforts, the rule of law, congressional oversight, and separation of powers. This fall, she will join Georgetown University Law Center as a visiting professor.
Fredrickson has published works on many legal and constitutional issues and is a frequent guest on television and radio, including serving as a regular on-air commentator on impeachment. In addition, she regularly contributes opinion pieces to the New York Times, Washington Post, and other news outlets. She is also the author of Under The Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over, The Democracy Fix: How to Win the Fight for Fair Rules, Fair Courts, and Fair Elections, and most recently, The AOC Way.
Before joining ACS, Fredrickson served as the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office and as general counsel and legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, she served as the chief of staff to Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington and deputy chief of staff to then–Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. During the Clinton administration, Fredrickson served as special assistant to the president for legislative affairs.
Fredrickson is currently an elected member of the American Law Institute, co-chair of the National Constitution Center’s Coalition of Freedom Advisory Board, a member of If/When/How’s advisory board, and a board member of American Oversight and the National Institute of Money and Politics. In 2015, Fredrickson was appointed a member of the Yale Les Aspin Fellowship Committee.
Fredrickson graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa from Yale University with a BA in Russian and East European studies. She received her JD with honors from Columbia Law School. She clerked for Judge James L. Oakes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
