From left: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly and First District Court of Appeals Judge Pierre H. Bergeron

From left: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly and First District Court of Appeals Judge Pierre H. Bergeron

Two leading Ohio jurists are shedding light on why and how data can become a key tool in reforming the criminal justice system.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly and First District Court of Appeals Judge Pierce Bergeron co-authored an article, posted today in The Atlantic: “How a Spreadsheet Could Change the Criminal Justice System.”

“Many court systems lack basic data about themselves, including about their criminal-sentencing decisions,” the jurists wrote.

“This means that when a judge considers a sentence for a criminal defendant, he or she has no way to evaluate it against others handed down for similar crimes in the same state, or even the same county.”

They call the situation “a problem lurking in the background” that must be solved.

In July, Ohio Supreme Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor told the state’s criminal sentencing commission that establishing a statewide database would be the main focus of her final two years on the bench.

The judges noted that the nonprofit group Measures for Justice has compiled statistics for 16 states, but far more work needs to be done.

“Collecting and utilizing sentencing data will help build a better, more equitable justice system” in America, the jurists wrote, “…as momentum builds to address deep inequities in our criminal-justice system …”