The Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression at Yale Law School promotes freedom of speech, freedom of the press, access to information and government transparency. The Institute’s activities are grounded on the belief that collaboration between the academy and the bar will enrich both scholarship and practice.
The Abrams Institute is made possible by a generous gift from Floyd Abrams, one of the country’s most important defenders of freedom of speech and press. Mr. Abrams is a prominent Yale Law School alumnus who has also taught at the school. The Abrams Institute is administered by Yale’s Information Society Project. Its faculty director is Professor Jack Balkin and its Executive Director is Chinmayi Arun.
An important part of the Abrams Institute is Yale’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic (MFIA). Yale Law School students in the clinic assist in litigation, draft model legislation, and advise lawmakers and policy makers on issues of media freedom and information access. The MFIA clinic authors amicus briefs and promotes scholarship and law reform on questions that affect both traditional and new media.
The Institute also organizes conferences and events on issues connected to the First Amendment; access to information; and Internet, media, telecommunications, and privacy law. These events include an annual Freedom of Expression Scholars Conference (FESC), practitioner-scholar conferences on novel First Amendment issues, and a series of topical speakers and panels.