Carlton W. Reeves
How Judge Reeves rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Reeves
Carlton Wayne Reeves is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Reeves received a commission on December 20, 2010.
Judge Reeves's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Reeves's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Reeves decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a qualified-immunity motion to dismiss, the judge drew a sharp line between a due-process notice claim (which survived) and an overlapping First Amendment retaliation claim (which did not), based on whether the governing law was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct rather than on the underlying facts.
“That means that at the time of Earl's actions, there was no clearly established law for him to violate. It is for this reason that Earl is entitled to qualified immunity on Papin's First Amendment retaliation claim.”
In an ERISA fiduciary-duty case, the judge treated the defendant's proposed affirmative defense as something that had to be proven later, not assumed at the pleading stage, and cited the parties' unequal access to information as a reason to hold plaintiffs to a lighter pleading burden.
“BTC next argues that it can prove an affirmative defense on a motion to dismiss. BTC is incorrect. ... The Fifth Circuit has reiterated that notice pleading is adequate because there is an imbalance in access to information in ERISA cases.”
In a product defect suit, the court required evidence suited to the technical claim. Recall notices and the plaintiff's own account did not replace expert testimony on defect and causation at summary judgment.
“Expert testimony is required.”
In a municipal liability claim involving an off-duty deputy, the court required evidence connecting the alleged constitutional violation to county policy before sending the claim to trial.
“Johnson has identified a specific policy and a potential constitutional violation, but he has offered no evidence connecting the two.”
In one settlement agreement dispute, the court enforced a clause requiring the parties to present breach claims first to the Mississippi chancery court. It read the clause as a whole and granted the defendant’s dismissal request.
“On review, the Court finds that the parties agreed to a mandatory forum selection clause when they settled their differences in 2015.”
Procedural preferences
In Blackwell v. Bankers Trust Company of South Dakota, he denied leave to file a sur-reply because the trustee's reply raised no new arguments requiring a response.
“Without the need to address new arguments, ‘[s]urreplies are heavily disfavored by courts.’”
In one trade-secrets suit, the judge distinguished an LLC’s capacity to sue from Article III standing when defendants raised a late jurisdictional challenge. He held that board ratification could cure the capacity issue.
“Ratification can cure a capacity defect.”
Cautions
In Bullock, Reeves required the government to carry Bruen's historical-tradition burden on an as-applied challenge and dismissed a felon-in-possession indictment when he found the record insufficient. The Fifth Circuit reversed that ruling in 2024, and the Supreme Court denied review in 2025, so the district-court result is recorded as judicial history rather than current controlling law.
“The motion to dismiss is granted. The Clerk of Court shall close the case.”
In Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. Entergy Mississippi, Inc., he revisited federal-question jurisdiction during trial and remanded after finding no substantial federal issue in the state's claims, despite the costs of restarting in state court.
“It would have been better to remand this case before trial commenced. All involved, including the undersigned, bear some responsibility for that. ... it is better to finally resolve the jurisdictional issue now than risk having everyone's work evaporate many years from now on appeal.”
In the same suit, the court excluded a third supplemental expert report when it introduced a new justification after the valuation date and would prejudice the defendants, while allowing the underlying financial documents to be offered another way.
“The supplement is untimely, and allowing its introduction would prejudice Defendants.”
In a vehicle-damage dispute, he held that the defendant’s failure to designate an expert did not shift the plaintiff’s burden to prove causation. He granted partial summary judgment only on duty and breach.
“Mr. White still must carry his burden by persuading the finder of fact. He has not done so in this motion. He cannot shift his burden onto HTC.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The bottom line is that Clark and Butler Snow had probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed. They are not liable for their report to the Madison Police Department.”
“It is for this reason that Earl is entitled to qualified immunity on Papin's First Amendment retaliation claim. ... For these reasons, Papin's procedural due process claim in regards to notice survives the Motion to Dismiss and Earl is not entitled to qualified immunity.”
“For the reasons stated below, summary judgment is granted in favor of Noxubee County and Betty Robinson and both motions for leave are denied.”
“Both motions are denied. The parties are instructed to contact the chambers of the Magistrate Judge within the next 10 days to set up a case management conference.”
“Both motions are denied.”
“The motion to supplement is granted. The supplemental claims against S.B. 2116 will proceed as Part III of this case.”
“The plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED.”
During the first week of a trial seeking more than $1 billion, Reeves revisited jurisdiction on his own initiative and remanded the state-law consumer-protection and antitrust case. He found that the complaint did not necessarily raise a disputed, substantial federal issue and explained that jurisdictional limits required remand despite the parties' preparation and the resulting inefficiency.
“The motion to dismiss is granted. The Clerk of Court shall close the case.”
“The Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is granted in part and denied in part.”
“For that reason, the Court is obligated to grant summary judgment to Hinds County.”
“Toward that end, the Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike Answer [Docket No. 18] is denied.”
“Having failed to present evidence that Baxter breached its duties leads this Court no option but to grant summary judgment in favor of Defendant.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Reeves carries a broad general civil and criminal docket in the Jackson division, including employment and civil-rights cases, ERISA disputes, federal and state habeas petitions, prisoner 1915 screening matters, and high-profile constitutional litigation; as of mid-2026 he continues to receive a steady flow of new case assignments.
- The sample now spans both his early (2018-2020) and recent (2023-2025) dockets.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 16 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 11 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 16 | 11 |
| Sep 2025 | 21 | 10 |
| Mar 2025 | 16 | 9 |
| Sep 2024 | 14 | 8 |
| Mar 2024 | 3 | 5 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 10 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 11 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 9 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 10 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 11 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 9 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, not for Judge Reeves: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 1,034 | 9.4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 613 | 8.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 385 | 9.9 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 26 | 21 months |
| Closed during trial | 10 | 21.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,034 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 988 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 972 | 11 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,139 | 11.9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,061 | 11.2 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,605 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,094 | 9.3 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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