George Luzerne Hart Jr. Explained

Office:Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Term Start:May 19, 1979
Term End:May 19, 1982
Appointer:Warren E. Burger
Predecessor:Seat established
Successor:John Lewis Smith Jr.
Office1:Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Term Start1:May 16, 1979
Term End1:May 21, 1984
Office2:Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Term Start2:March 19, 1974
Term End2:July 14, 1975
Predecessor2:John Sirica
Successor2:William Blakely Jones
Office3:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Term Start3:August 29, 1958
Term End3:May 16, 1979
Appointer3:Dwight D. Eisenhower
Predecessor3:James Robert Kirkland
Successor3:Norma Holloway Johnson
Birth Date:14 July 1905
Birth Place:Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
Death Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.
Education:Virginia Military Institute (A.B.)
Harvard Law School (LL.B.)

George Luzerne Hart Jr. (July 14, 1905 – May 21, 1984) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Education and career

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Hart attended Forest Park Academy. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Virginia Military Institute in 1927 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1930. He was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1930. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C. at Lambert & Hart from 1930 to 1941. He was in the United States Army Reserve during World War II from 1941 to 1946. He became a captain in artillery, then served in the United States Army Air Force, rising to the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force when it became a separate service. He returned to private practice from 1946 to 1958.

Federal judicial service

On August 29, 1958, Hart received a recess appointment from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge James Robert Kirkland. Formally nominated to the same seat by President Eisenhower on January 17, 1959, Hart was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 9, 1959, and received his commission on September 10, 1959. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1974 to 1975, assuming senior status on May 16, 1979. He served as the Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1979 to 1982. Hart continued to serve in senior status until his death on May 21, 1984, in Washington, D.C. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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