Access & Accountability 2025: Preserving the Architecture of Accountability

This year’s Access & Accountability (AAC) conference brought together lawyers, journalists, academics, and advocates at Yale Law School for a two-day conference focused on the state of government accountability. Hosted by the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, the conference examined evolving threats to democracy and the institutions responsible for holding power to account.

The conference opened with an intense conversation between former 4th Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig and Linda Greenhouse ’78 MSL on the current state of American democracy. Judge Luttig laid out what he sees as significant threats. Their discussion framed many of the themes that carried through the rest of the program.

Panels Friday addressed recent assaults on institutions of accountability, including challenges to law firms, universities, media organizations, and other non-governmental organizations. Speakers discussed substantial ongoing efforts to weaken institutional independence and challenge democratic oversight, and potential legal strategies for countering these efforts. Other sessions focused on the consolidation of power in the executive branch, examining the use of unitary executive theory, interference with independent agencies, and resistance to judicial oversight.

A panel on privacy, data, and DOGE explored the growing role of data and surveillance in government power, and implications for surveillance, immigration enforcement, and personal privacy. Other sessions turned to safeguarding a free press, the protection of newsgathering rights, and emerging threats to government transparency.

Saturday’s sessions shifted the focus to academic freedom, clinical education, and public-interest lawyering. Panels discussed political pressure on law school clinics, ethical obligations in clinical work, and strategies for navigating partisan backlash. The conference concluded with a discussion of recent success stories in public-interest advocacy and impact litigation.

Across two days, Access & Accountability 2025 provided space for sustained discussion about the pressures facing democratic institutions and the legal, journalistic, and academic work required to preserve accountability. The conference emphasized both the seriousness of current threats and the continued commitment of practitioners and scholars to defending transparency, press freedom, and the rule of law.