JACKSON, Miss.- U.S. District Court Judge and Jackson State University alumnus (’86) Carlton W. Reeves is one of seven experienced and qualified nominees for the U.S. Sentencing Commission, a bipartisan independent agency created during the Reagan Administration. If confirmed, he will make history serving as the first Black chair of the organization. Judge Reeves received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1989 and his B.A. from Jackson State University in 1986.
The Commission has lacked a quorum since 2019, which has prevented it from doing critical business. On May 11, 2022, President Biden was pleased to announce the nominations whose confirmations would allow the Commission to conduct its important work.
Judge Reeves has served as a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi since 2010. He was previously a partner at Pigott Reeves Johnson & Minor, P.A. from 2001 to 2010. From 1995 to 2001, he served as chief of the Civil Division for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. From 1991 to 1995, Judge Reeves was an associate at Phelps Dunbar LLP. In 1991, he was a staff attorney for the Supreme Court of Mississippi. He served as a law clerk for Justice Reuben V. Anderson on the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1989 to 1990.