Reduce The Use Of Cash Bail? There's An App For That [View all]

The lead public defender in St. Charles County says a new mobile phone app he helped design could reduce the need for cash bail.

Michael Sato and a team of five developers came up with the idea for Freecog as part of the Global Legal Hackathon, which looks to use technology to solve criminal justice issues. Their proposal won the St. Louis event — the team will know by March 25 if they have advanced to the finals.

Sato said too many defendants who are no risk to their communities are sitting behind bars because they or their families cannot afford to post cash bail.

Freecog is intended to give defendants charged with low-level crimes a way to use smartphones to fulfill pretrial requirements like daily check-ins with the court, or to prove they have completed courses like anger management.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/reduce-use-cash-bail-theres-app