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Charles L. Hardy

University of Arizona Law,
class of 1949

State Bar of Arizona
member since 1949

Charles Leach Hardy was born in Los Angeles, California on January 24, 1919. He grew up in the town of Nogales, Arizona. He had a great deal of exposure to law while he was growing up, as his uncle, Leslie C. Hardy, was a prominent lawyer who revised the Arizona Code in the 1950s; his father, Charles L. Hardy, was a Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge; and his grandfather, Charles E. Hardy, was a justice of the peace and collector of customs in Nogales. Charles Hardy enlisted in the Army and served from 1941 until 1946. He completed his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1949.

From 1952 until 1955, Charles Hardy served as Deputy County Attorney for Maricopa County. He was Assistant Attorney General from 1957 until 1960. He served on the Maricopa County Superior Court from 1966 until 1980, when President Carter appointed him to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

In 1990, Judge Hardy retired from the bench.

Oral History Audio

Interviewed by Thomas Pickrell in 1990.

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