Biden taps Magistrate Judge Grey for District Court bench in Detroit

Washington — President Joe Biden on Friday nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey to serve on the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the White House said. 

Grey, 40, of Detroit has served as a magistrate judge for just over a year, having been sworn in on Aug. 24, 2021.

Previously, Grey was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Ohio starting in 2016 and for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2012 to 2016, handling illegal firearms, fraud and international narcotics cases. He also led diversity programs and anti-domestic violence initiatives, according to his biography.

As a federal prosecutor in Detroit, Grey handled several high-profile cases, including the forfeiture case of West Bloomfield neurologist  Dr. Gavin Awerbuch, who was accused of cheating Medicare and spending more than $9.3 million on baseball cards, ancient coins, collectable currency and stamps.

Before his time as a prosecutor, Grey was in private practice as an associate at Seyfath Shaw LLP in Chicago, practicing labor and employment law. 

Grey also served as a law clerk for prominent late Judge Damon J. Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 2010 to 2011. He also clerked for Judge W. Louis Sands on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Grey graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2007 and from Morehouse College in 2004. 

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, applauded Grey's noimnation, with Stabenow saying he has demonstrated his work as a "thoughtful and fair judge."

Peters said Grey would bring strong experience to the federal bench and would "serve Michiganders well.

"I applaud President Biden’s nomination of Judge Grey and look forward to working with my colleagues to move his nomination through the Senate confirmation process," Peters said.