CURMUDGUCATION: What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

CURMUDGUCATION: What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

You remember Rebecca Friedrichs. She was the face of the union-busting lawsuit of 2014. Supreme Court Justice Alito signaled that he was ready and willing to hear a case that would revisit the issue of union free-riders, and the Center for Individual Rights (an activist-by-way-of-lawsuits group funded by, among others, various Koch groups and the DeVos family) delivered with Friedrichs plus nine other teachers and the Christian Educators Association International. Friedrichs was a ready choice-- she had already been writing op-eds "revealing" the union's naughtiness.

The apple pie was cropped out

I can't fault CIR for client-shopping, which seems to be how virtually every Supreme Court case gets started these days by all sides. But this was particularly aggressive, with CIR encouraging every lower court to rule against them so that they could appeal their way up the ladder. They got to the top, the Supremes looked poised to give them a win-- and then Justice Alito died, leaving Friedrichs a default 4-4 loss.

Along the way, Rebecca Friedrich was the public face of the lawsuit. She did plenty of press, particularly with friendly outlets, serving as the perky face of the attack on fair share. With almost thirty years in an elementary classroom, she made a good spokesperson. But after her lawsuit tanked, what next. The court eventually heard an identical case, and "fair share" was defeated--but under the name Janus, not Friedrichs.

What ever happened to Rebecca Friedrichs?

Well, the answer is "plenty."

Whether intentionally or not, Friedrichs had launched a second career as an CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?