In a new randomized experiment at the Santa Clara County Public Defender Office, my colleagues and I found that text message reminders reduce *incarceration* for missed court dates by over 20%! More in the 🧵 below. alexchohlaswood.com/assets/paper... 1/11
To read more about our study, see the working paper from me and a superb group of coauthors, including Madison Coots, Joe Nudell, Julian Nyarko, Emma Brunskill, Todd Rogers, and @5harad.comalexchohlaswood.com/assets/paper...
We couldn’t have done this without our incredible partners at the Santa Clara County Public Defender Office. The project was also generously supported with grants from Stanford Impact Labs, Stanford Law School, Stanford Community Engagement, and the Harvard Data Science Initiative. 10/11
… as well as a forthcoming AEJ study from Natalia Emanuel + Helen Ho, and a review of the literature in Criminology & Public Policy from Sam Zottola, William Crozier, Deniz Ariturk, and Sarah Desmarais. 9/11 nataliaemanuel.github.io/ne_website/E...onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Our study complements past work on how behavioral nudges improve appearance in court. These include a study in Science from Alissa Fishbane + Aurelie Ouss + Anuj Shah, a study in JPAM from Emily Owens + CarlyWill Sloan… 8/11 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Court date reminders promise to reduce the high costs of court involvement for millions of Americans. Half of US jurisdictions have already implemented (or will soon implement) reminders. Last year, California even considered a bill, SB-255, to mandate reminders across the state. 7/11
Over the study period, we found that reminders reduced jail time for missed court dates by 20% when compared against no reminders—from 6.2% of clients in the control condition to 4.8% of clients in the reminder condition. 6/11
Our study included over 5,700 public defender clients who had court dates between May 2022 and August 2023. Half of these clients were randomly assigned to receive text message reminders, while the other half consisted of a control group and received no reminders. 5/11
But new research over the last decade suggests that many people who miss court simply forgot about their court date or were confused about when to show up. As a result, sending people court date reminders can substantially improve attendance. 4/11
This policy guarantees attendance in court, but comes at a high cost to those in jail, as well as their families and communities. Imagine trying to keep a job or arranging childcare while you’re held in custody. It’s also much harder to fight your case while you’re in jail. 3/11
In California and across the US, people are required to appear in court as their cases proceed. If they fail to appear, judges can issue a warrant for their arrest. The next time these people encounter law enforcement, they are typically arrested and held in jail. 2/11