Text reminders help people get to court on time in Massachusetts
BOSTON - It's just a simple text, a small thing that can keep someone out of big trouble, even out of jail.
"We send out text messages four days before, and 12 hours before the court date," said Pamerson Ifill, Deputy Commissioner of Massachusetts Probation Services. He says Massachusetts is the only place where these reminders are being sent statewide to anyone involved with the courts, about their upcoming hearings.
"We have them in English, Spanish, got it translated in Portuguese," said Ifill as he thumbed through flyers posted throughout courthouses. The texts are translated in 10 different languages.
Missing a court date can trigger a warrant. It's happened to Germane Smith, who's from Dorchester. "Having to get there late or something like that, to have to sit down in the tank, have to get an extra possibility of getting locked up because it just slipped your mind," he said.
Last year 246,293 text reminders went out. The rate of defendants failing to appear has dropped by 3%. That amounts to 415 pre-trial hearings that would have been missed otherwise.
Each text costs the state a dime. State officials say that's a drop in the bucket compared to resources wasted on no-shows and fees defendants end up paying, which was a total of about $83,000 in 2022. "More money, more problems, then later on down the line you can get into more trouble," said Smith.
Since people filling the seats of courthouses are disproportionately Black and Latino, it's also an equity issue, "for how we can deliver better outcomes for people across any racial, gender, ethnicity, or any other dimension of diversity," said Ifill. He says court officials from other states have been calling him, looking to spread the program across the country.
