William Hitz
William Hitz, known as Billy Hitz, was an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit|United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia] and previously was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Education and career
Born in Washington, D.C., Hitz received his undergraduate education from Harvard University, and received a Bachelor of Laws from Georgetown Law in 1900. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1914 and was a special attorney at the United [States Department of Justice] from 1914 to 1916.Federal judicial service
Hitz received a recess appointment from President Woodrow Wilson on November 15, 1916, to an Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia vacated by Associate Justice Thomas H. Anderson. He was nominated to the same position by President Wilson on December 15, 1916. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 2, 1917, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on February 13, 1931, due to his elevation to the District of Columbia Circuit.Hitz was nominated by President Herbert Hoover on January 5, 1931, to the United States Court of Appeals for the [District of Columbia Circuit|Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia], to a new Associate Justice seat authorized by 46 Stat. 785. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 28, 1931, and received his commission on February 6, 1931.
In 1932, Congress passed an appropriations bill that reduced his wages because, as a judge on a D.C. circuit, the prevailing view was that he presided over a legislative court with no Article III protections for its judges. Believing himself to be an Article III judge with the protection of the Compensation Clause, he sued in the United States Court of Claims for the difference in wages. The case reached the United States Supreme Court in O'Donoghue v. United States, and that court decided in his favor by holding that D.C.'s courts were both constitutional courts under Article III and legislative courts.
His service terminated on July 3, 1935, due to his death.