Toward Reconstructing Sentencing: Thoughts on Effectuating Racial Justice through Federal Drug Sentencing Amendments

Abstract This essay advances a Reconstruction framework for federal drug sentencing reform, drawing on parallels between the post–Civil War Reconstruction Era and the present need to dismantle racial inequities embedded in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. While the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s 2025 proposed amendments to USSG § 2D1.1 offered partial steps toward aligning sentencing outcomes with legitimate purposes of punishment, they ultimately fell short of transformative change. This article argues that a Reconstruction model—one that shifts away from incarceration driven by drug type and quantity, and instead emphasizes culpability, rehabilitation, and community-based alternatives—offers a path toward racial equity and sentencing legitimacy. By confronting the racially discriminatory legacy of the War on Drugs and resisting backlash against antiracism, Reconstruction Sentencing reframes punishment as a tool for healing rather than exclusion.