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

Hart was born to Phyllis Cox, a lawyer specializing inhuman rights, and Robert C. Hart, a business executive in theenergy industry.^[2] Hart's grandfather through her mother Phyllis isArchibald Cox, a formerU.S. Solicitor General and dean ofHarvard Law School. In 1991, Hart received aBachelor of Arts fromHarvard University, where she wrote forThe Harvard Crimson,^[3] and herJuris Doctormagna cum laude fromHarvard Law School in 1995, where she received the Sears Prize, was an articles editor of theHarvard Law Review, and was a member of the winning team in the 1994 Ames Moot Court Competition.^[4][5] After law school, sheclerked for JudgeGuido Calabresi of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and then for JusticeJohn Paul Stevens of theSupreme Court of the United States from 1996 to 1997.

Following her clerkships, she worked as a litigation attorney for theU.S. Department of Justice inWashington, D.C. In 2001, she became anassociate professor of law at theUniversity of Colorado Law School inBoulder, Colorado, and was later named the Schaden Chair and Professor of Law and director of theByron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law.^[6] She is an expert onemployment discrimination law.^[7][8]

In March 2015, JusticeGregory J. Hobbs Jr. announced that he would retire effective from September 1, 2015.^[9] TheColorado Judicial Nominating Commission nominated professor Hart along withstate Court of Appeals judgeRichard L. Gabriel andEl Paso County District Court judge David Prince as possible candidates to replace Hobbs.^[10]GovernorJohn Hickenlooper announcedGabriel as his choice to replace Hobbs on June 23, 2015.^[11]

On June 7, 2017, PresidentDonald Trump nominated JusticeAllison H. Eid to serve as a United States circuit judge of theUS Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, who was sworn in on November 4.^[12][13] On November 29 theColorado 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]

On June 2, 2001, Hart married Kevin Thomas Traskos, who is also an attorney.^[2]

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 4)

• 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.

• Bio, University of Colorado Law School.
• Appearances on C-Span.org.

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