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Melissa Hart (judge)

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Melissa Hart
Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 14, 2017
Appointed byJohn Hickenlooper
Preceded byAllison H. Eid
Personal details
Born1969 or 1970 (age 54–55)
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Spouse
Kevin Traskos
​
(m. 2001)​
EducationHarvard University (BA, JD)

Melissa Hart (born 1969 or 1970) is a justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.

Biography

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Hart was born to Phyllis Cox, a lawyer specializing in human rights, and Robert C. Hart, a business executive in the energy industry.[2] In 1991, Hart received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson,[3] and her Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995, where she received the Sears Prize, was an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and was a member of the winning team in the 1994 Ames Moot Court Competition.[4][5] After law school, she clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and then for Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1996 to 1997.

Following her clerkships, she worked as a litigation attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. In 2001, she became an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado, and was later named the Schaden Chair and Professor of Law and director of the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law.[6] She is an expert on employment discrimination law.[7][8]

In March 2015, Justice Gregory J. Hobbs Jr. announced that he would retire effective from September 1, 2015.[9] The Colorado Judicial Nominating Commission nominated professor Hart along with state Court of Appeals Judge Richard L. Gabriel and El Paso County District Court Judge David Prince as possible candidates to replace Hobbs.[10] Governor John Hickenlooper announced Gabriel as his choice to replace Hobbs on June 23, 2015.[11]

On June 7, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Justice Allison H. Eid to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, who was sworn in on November 4.[12][13] On November 29 the Colorado Judicial Nominating Commission nominated professor Hart, 12th Judicial District Chief Judge Patti P. Swift, and attorney Marcy G. Glenn.[14] On December 14, 2017, Gov. John Hickenlooper named Hart as an associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. After serving for the remainder of Eid's term, Hart stood for election to a full ten-year term in 2020, which she won.[15]

Personal life

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On June 2, 2001, Hart married Kevin Thomas Traskos, who is also an attorney.[2] She is the maternal granddaughter of Archibald Cox.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Colorado State election results, 2010" (PDF). Colorado Secretary of State.
  2. ^ a b "Weddings: Melissa Hart, Kevin Traskos". New York Times. June 3, 2001. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Melissa R. Hart | Writer Profile | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
  4. ^ Paul, Jesse (December 14, 2017). "Hickenlooper picks CU professor for vacant Colorado Supreme Court seat, solidifying his legacy for the panel". Denver Post. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  5. ^ Viser, Matt (November 10, 2013). "Harvard Law outsider became Tea Party hero". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Brady, Oliver (June 10, 2015). "Melissa Hart, CU law professor, nominated for Colorado Supreme Court". Daily Camera. University of Colorado. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Draper, Electa (November 20, 2014). "Colorado hospital giant Centura Health to stop hiring tobacco users". Denver Post. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  8. ^ "Gay wedding cake at center of Colorado court case". CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc. Associated Press. July 7, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  9. ^ Harden, Mark (March 20, 2015). "Colorado Supreme Court justice to retire". Denver Business Journal. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  10. ^ Mendoza, Monica (June 24, 2015). "Judge Richard Gabriel is Hickenlooper's pick for Colorado Supreme Court". Denver Business Journal. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  11. ^ Bartels, Lynn; Nussbaum, Matthew (June 23, 2015). "Gov. Hickenlooper appoints Richard Gabriel to Colorado Supreme Court". The Denver Post. Denver. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  12. ^ "Presidential Nomination 585, 115th United States Congress". United States Congress. June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "Appointment of Honorable Allison Eid to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals". United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. November 4, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  14. ^ Luning, Ernest (29 November 2017). "Melissa Hart, Patti Swift, Marcy Glenn named finalists for Colorado Supreme Court vacancy". Colorado Politics.
  15. ^ Goodland, Marianne (December 14, 2017). "CU Law's Melissa Hart newest member of Colorado Supreme Court". Colorado Politics. Retrieved December 15, 2017.

Selected publications

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  • Hart (with Maria Ontiveros, Roberto Corrada, and Michael Selmi), Employment Discrimination Law: Cases and Material on Equality in the Workplace (Thomson/West, 10th ed. 2016). ISBN 1634597478.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
2017–present 		Incumbent


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