The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Brooklynite Ramon Reyes to the position of U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of New York, elevating him from his position as federal magistrate judge on the same court.
Reyes, who is of Puerto Rican descent, will be the second Hispanic man to sit on the trial court bench in the Eastern District, which covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and four Long Island counties. Reyes will fill the seat vacated by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, who retired in 2022 after 14 years in the position.
Senators voted 51-48 to confirm Reyes to the position as a trial judge following his Sept. 2, 2022 nomination to the federal bench by the Biden Administration — championed by Sen. Chuck Schumer.
During his sixteen-year tenure as a magistrate judge for the EDNY, Judge Reyes presided over 33 trials, including 15 jury trials.
He was also one of three magistrate judges to oversee an innovative method of coordinating case management, and the resolution of more than 1,500 individual insurance coverage cases resulting from the fallout of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
Schumer lauded Reyes for his “brilliant” legal mind and for possessing the temperament and skillset needed to be a fair and reasoned judge in the EDNY.
“Judge Reyes will be only the second Hispanic man to sit on the Eastern District, an important step to making sure our courts reflect the diversity of this district, one of the most diverse districts in the nation,” Schumer said in a statement. “Judge Reyes’s experience is expansive and deep. Every step of the way, he made sure the law works equally for all Americans, for the most privileged to the most impoverished. I am confident he will bring remarkable legal talent and experience, and his fervent commitment to the public good, to the Eastern District as a district judge.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Reyes got his law degree from Brooklyn Law School before earning a Master of Laws from New York University Law School, and spent a year as a clerk for Judge David G. Treyger in the Eastern District — where he will now preside. Before he was appointed as a magistrate judge, Reyes served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Brooklyn Law School and the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District Chapter.
As a District judge, Reyes will oversee pretrial proceedings and conduct trials — overseeing jury selection, making decisions on evidence admission, and issuing sentences.
President and Joseph Crea Dean of Brooklyn Law School David D. Meyer congratulated the former BLS alumni, saying there could be “no finer addition” to the U.S. District Court.
“Ramon Reyes is universally respected for the judgment, wisdom, and integrity he brings to his work as a judge,” Crea said.
