Cohort 2023

ideas42

Evaluating the Impact of Court Reminders to Reduce Warrants and Advance Racial Equity

Sacramento, CA

Simply missing a court date—also known as nonappearance—can have serious implications. Unintentional nonappearance can result in a warrant for arrest and incarceration in jail, even for a person who has received a citation for a nonviolent or low-level offense. Moreover, arrest warrants for unintentional nonappearance reflect patterns of racial disparities in criminal legal system involvement, exacerbating racial inequities. The (Un)warranted team at ideas42, a nonprofit organization that focuses on applying behavioral insights to improve lives, build better systems, and drive social change, seeks to mitigate these harms by increasing appearances through improved communications about court dates. Through their research, they have found that nonappearance is often tied to a lack of resources, fear, or common human error, rather than an intent to abscond.

With Catalyst Grant funding, ideas42, in partnership with the Sacramento County Superior Court, will evaluate the impact of new court date reminder notices and accompanying envelopes on appearance rates. In this evaluation, they will focus on how these new reminders support communities of color. They will analyze the impact of these reminders over 6 and 12 months, looking at the impact overall and broken down by demographics, including race and neighborhood wealth.