Hon. Carlton Reeves

Judge Carlton Reeves serves as a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and is slated to become the first Black person to chair the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The seven-member bipartisan independent agency has lacked enough members to operate since 2019. This has been a challenge for federal courts, who rely on sentencing guidelines for their criminal cases. Nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2010 to serve on the federal bench, Carlton became the second Black judge appointed to the federal bench in Mississippi. His elevation to the bench was poignant for Judge Reeves. As a teenager, he filled in for a friend to clean the office of U.S. District Judge William Barbour, who years later would swear in Carlton to replace him. As a federal judge, Reeves made a notable pre-sentencing speech about racial injustice and the “scars of America’s history” that has been read more than 1 million times. Judges, prosecutors, and public defenders alike have asked for more consistency in federal sentencing guidelines, and although it is a daunting task, Judge Reeves may be uniquely situated to usher in a new era for federal sentencing.