Harry Hammitt is Editor and Publisher of Access Reports, a biweekly newsletter on the Freedom of Information Act, open government laws and policies, and informational privacy issues. He has written and edited the newsletter since 1985.
Hammitt has written extensively on all aspects of the case law, legislation, and administrative practice. Besides Access Reports, he has written a monthly newsletter on access and privacy for Canada, and has served as the primary editor of Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws, a practice guide created for nongovernment users of FOIA and other federal access laws.
Hammitt has lectured extensively on access and privacy issues in the U.S. and Canada. He has served as P resident and as a board member of the American Society of Access Professionals, a Washington-based professional organization.
Mr. Hammitt earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
He is the co-author of Bloomberg BNA Corporate Practice Portfolio Series No. 14-4th, Business Uses of the Freedom of Information Act. This portfolio volume analyzes the federal statutory framework by which corporations and others, including public interest groups, may gain access to government-generated records or other records in the possession of government agencies. It examines the Freedom of Information Act, describing how it can be used by requesters of public information, how it protects certain exempt categories of information, and how litigation arises under the act. It also discusses the FOIA exemptions from mandatory disclosure most commonly encountered by business users of the act.