Harris Hartz

Harris L. Hartz (born 1947) is an American jurist and lawyer who serves as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Early life and education Hartz was born in 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in Farmington, New Mexico, and graduated from Farmington High School in 1963 as valedictorian. From 1968 to 1969, Hartz worked on the reelection campaign of U.S. Senator Jacob Javits and as a reporter for The Record, a newspaper in northern New Jersey. He then returned to private practice at a law firm, serving as Special Counsel to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, where he worked with the union to develop a code of conduct and an internal system for compliance and enforcement.

Federal judicial service

Hartz was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit by President George W. Bush on September 4, 2001 to replace Judge Bobby Baldock, who assumed senior status. Hartz was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 6, 2001, by a 99–0 vote. He received his commission on December 10, 2001.

Notable cases

Riviera Drilling & Exploration Co. v. Gunnison Energy Corp. et al., No. 10-1081 (10th Cir. 2014) – In an unpublished order and judgment written by Judge Hartz, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the lower court's dismissal of a $100 million antitrust case against an energy company accused of setting artificially high prices for its gas pipeline in Colorado.

United States v. Heineman, 767 F.3d 970 (10th Cir. 2014) – In a first amendment free speech case, Defendant Aaron Michael Heineman e-mailed a hateful poem to a University of Utah professor. In an opinion written by Judge Hartz, the Tenth Circuit adhered to the view that Virginia v. Black required the district court to find that Defendant intended to instill fear before it could convict him of violating 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).

Endrew F. v. Douglas County School Dist. RE–1, 798 F.3d 1329 (10th Cir. 2015) – In a case where parents of Endrew F., a child with autism, appealed a case to the court in an effort to be reimbursed for private school tuition resulting from lack of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) given to their child by their school district, the court ruled that Endrew had received "some educational benefit" (as per Board of Education v. Rowley) and had thus had received FAPE and did not qualify for reimbursement. This case was successfully appealed to the Supreme Court in which the justices found that the way which the 10th Circuit determined if Endrew had received FAPE was wrong, remanding the case back to the lower courts for review.

Works