This Article argues for a constitutional response to one of the worst structural harms of the criminal legal system: the perpetuation of racial subordination. It makes this case by exploring whether the antisubordination principle best associated with the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause could be applied to Eighth Amendment constitutional interpretation. This principle posits that the Constitution should be read in a way that dismantles the structural harm of caste hierarchy. An antisubordination interpretation of the Eighth Amendment would require courts to balance the depth of the harm of caste perpetuation against the strength of the government’s interest in imposing punishment on an individual. Such a test would lead to the invalidation of punishments that entrench racial hierarchy—absent a compelling government interest in continuing to impose them.

Through an examination of the history, structure, jurisprudence, and theory of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Article concludes that an Antisubordination Eighth Amendment is both possible and necessary to address the systemic racism of the criminal legal system. Because criminal punishment perpetuates and entrenches America’s racial caste system, courts must strictly scrutinize punishments that disproportionately impact Black people and other historically subordinated groups.