Every year, millions of Americans are required to appear in court. Missing a court date—even unintentionally—can have devastating consequences:
arrest warrants, jail time, loss of housing, strained family ties, and long-term damage to employment prospects. A new study published in Science Advances shows that a surprisingly simple solution—a text message reminder—can help people avoid these harms.
Researchers affiliated with the Computational Policy Lab at HKS—including Professor of Public Policy Sharad Goel and New York University Assistant Professor Alex Chohlas-Wood—along with HKS faculty member Todd Rogers, the Weatherhead Professor of Public Policy—partnered with the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office in California to test whether automated text reminders could keep people from missing court.
The results were striking: text message reminders reduced bench warrants by about 20% and lowered incarceration for missed court dates by a similar amount. Just a few timely text messages kept people out of jail.
Why missed court dates matter
When someone misses a required court appearance, judges often issue what’s called a bench warrant. That means the next time the person encounters law enforcement—even during a routine traffic stop—they can be arrested and sent to jail. Pretrial jail time, even just a few days, can lead to major life disruptions: losing a job, missing rent, or being separated from children, for example.
Contrary to popular belief, many people don’t skip court because they’re trying to avoid justice. As the researchers explain, “The effectiveness of reminders bolsters the theory that lapses in memory or comprehension—rather than intentional noncompliance—drive missed court appearances.”
A missed court date often isn’t a sign of defiance—it’s a sign that someone forgot, got confused, or couldn’t juggle the logistics of daily life.
The experiment
The research team randomly assigned 5,709 clients of the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office to one of two groups: roughly half received no reminders, with the remainder receiving automated text messages in the week leading up to each court date. The reminders were clear, multilingual (English, Spanish, Vietnamese), and included details like the time, place, and consequences of missing court.
The results show reminders made a big difference:
- 12.1% of people in the no-reminder group received a bench warrant, compared to 9.7% with reminders.
- 6.6% of people without reminders ended up in jail due to missed court, compared to 5.2% with reminders.
This study demonstrates that automated court reminders can directly reduce incarceration—not just increase appearance at court.
“[A]utomated text message reminders can be an effective and relatively inexpensive way to help people attend court and avoid incarceration.”
Why it makes a difference
Court systems across the United States are still struggling with post-pandemic backlogs, and missed court dates add unnecessary strain. Each bench warrant means extra paperwork, wasted court time, and further delays. Automating reminders is a low-cost, scalable way to ease this burden while making the justice system fairer.
The financial impact is also significant. Sending automated texts costs about 60 cents per defendant per case—far cheaper than the costs of jailing someone, even briefly.
The human impact is even more important. Avoiding unnecessary jail time helps people keep their jobs, stay connected to family, and avoid the stigma of incarceration. And because people of color and low-income individuals are disproportionately represented in the criminal legal system, this intervention could reduce some of the inequities built into the justice system.
A simple nudge with big potential
This research builds on a growing body of evidence that small behavioral nudges—like reminders—can help people follow through on important obligations. Similar approaches have been used in other realms, such as health care and voter turnout. This study shows that such techniques can also be applied to criminal justice, with potentially transformative results.
The study’s authors write that reminders are not a cure-all. People may still face barriers such as lack of transportation, childcare needs, or inflexible work schedules. Future interventions might combine reminders with supports like bus passes, childcare vouchers, or even virtual court appearances.
Still, the takeaway is clear: technology can be harnessed not just to enforce rules, but to give people a fairer chance to succeed within the system. “[A]utomated text message reminders can be an effective and relatively inexpensive way to help people attend court and avoid incarceration,” the authors write. Such reminders may contribute to a smarter and more humane justice system.
—
Banner image by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images.