Judge Wexler. Photos: David Handschuh/NYLJ.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of photo stories about judges who are older than 90. There is no mandatory retirement age for federal judges, unlike state judges who must be off the bench by age 70, or 76 if certificated. The series will run every Friday for five weeks.
Leonard Wexler, 93, is a U.S. district court judge for the Eastern District of New York. He still has a full workload and mentors law students but he’s proud of his Purple Heart. There aren’t too many World War II veterans on the federal bench and even fewer received the medal.
Judge Wexler served as a private in the U.S. Army from 1943-1945.
Assigned to Company C 817th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Wexler was wounded during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge where American forces incurred high casualties. His unit lost many soldiers. “I was a grunt,” he said, speaking from his chambers in Central Islip, the Long Island courthouse he helped get built.
“I was no hero. I was sitting in a foxhole and was hit by shrapnel,” said the Brooklyn native who proudly adds that it was the only time he was ever in a hospital. “I was born at home in East New York, Brooklyn, not a hospital.”
Wexler was nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan on May 11, 1983, after more than 30 years as a criminal lawyer on Long Island.
As an attorney in private practice, Wexler liked to try cases. “I’m not known as a great settler,” he said.
For the last decade, Wexler has invited 20 Touro Law School students into his chambers for a hands-on, month-long class on federal court procedure. As he’s seating a jury, 10 students are sitting behind the plaintiff and the other 10 students are behind the defense table.
“This is not make-believe stuff that you do in a mock trial,” Wexler said. “Afterwards we examine why the lawyers selected who they did and what points they missed.”
He keeps a busy calendar and says he has no plans to slow down. “During the month of June, I try five or six jury cases. Some judges don’t do that in a year.”
“I love it. I enjoy being a judge. When I’m not trying cases, I’m bored,” he said. His secret to high energy is simple. “I work every day. I like working and I love coffee,” he said.
“I eat light and don’t eat too much meat. I don’t do any exercise at all,” he said.
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