Diane Menashe Featured in Columbus Dispatch: "Can a Spreadsheet Improve Fairness and Justice in Sentencing in Ohio Courts? Some Judges Say Yes"

Ice Miller LLP partner Diane Menashe was featured in the Columbus Dispatch article, "Can a Spreadsheet Improve Fairness and Justice in Sentencing in Ohio Courts? Some Judges Say Yes."

The article included:

Columbus defense attorney Diane Menashe spent 30 hours poring through case files to arm herself with the data needed to argue that her client should get four years in prison – not the decade behind bars that prosecutors wanted.

She manually went through nine similar cases, nailing down the details on charges, demographics, plea agreements, sentencing recommendations, judges and attorneys. She sent the judge on her case a spreadsheet and a nine-page memo.

It worked. Menashe's client, Kristen Mays, was sentenced to five years for her involvement in Jackie Powers' fatal heroin overdose and the dumping of Powers' body in May 2017.

If Ohio courts collected and shared criminal sentencing data, Menashe's research would have been a matter of keystrokes.

"Data collection would help create a uniform system that would help everyone," she said. "Data collection is absolutely critical and it's missing."

Click here to read the full article.