A notable judicial pitch for better sentencing data in the Buckeye State

In this post yesterday, I noted a recent commentary discussing the role of Ohio's Chief Justice in advocating against certain state sentencing reform.  Today I can spotlight another kind of sentencing reform advocacy by two different Ohio jurists, Justice Michael Donnelly and 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals Judge Ray Headen, which appears in this new cleveland.com opinion piece headlined "Create centralized criminal-sentencing database to reduce mass incarceration in Ohio."  Here are excerpts:

As two members of our state’s judiciary, we write to include our names in support along with the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission for the creation of a centralized criminal database and repository to track all criminal sentences in Ohio.  The commission has stated that criminal justice data in Ohio “is disparate, mismatched, and complex, and lacks the capacity to fully and completely narrate the comprehensive criminal justice story in Ohio.”

With a sentencing database, the Ohio General Assembly would be arming judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and Ohio’s citizens with information that is currently unavailable to them, and that would make the administration of justice more fair, equitable, and most importantly, transparent.  Without this information, many criminal defendants will continue to believe that whether they receive a five-year or a 20-year sentence is largely determined by which judge is assigned to their case at arraignment, rather than the actual record of their case....

A sentencing database and repository developed and maintained by the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission -- among data-gathering reforms the 19-year-old commission recommended a year ago -- would provide all stakeholders and appellate courts charged with reviewing sentences with the ability to ensure that criminal sentences are consistent with what our General Assembly has indicated are the overall purposes and principles of felony sentencing, as embodied in Ohio Revised Code 2929.11 and 2929.12. Those purposes and principles are to punish the offender, protect the community, set the offender on a course towards rehabilitation, and use the least amount of state resources necessary to achieve these goals. Uniformity and proportionality of sentences are essential to maintaining the public’s confidence in our courts.

We agree with the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission’s view that policymakers and enforcers must be able to access comprehensive criminal justice information to maximize public safety and develop effective policies.  A criminal sentencing database and repository will help reduce mass incarceration and will be an investment in a safer, fairer, and more cost-efficient justice system.