Born in Joliet, Illinois, Hart received a Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951.

He was an assistant United States attorney of the Northern District of Illinois from 1954 to 1956.

He was a special assistant state's attorney of Cook County, Illinois in 1960.

[1] Hart was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on March 11, 1982, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by Judge John Powers Crowley.

He assumed senior status on June 1, 1996, a position he held until his death on January 17, 2023.