Jay-Z invests in a new app committed to improving the criminal justice system

According to the True Institute of Justice, in the United States, 62% of the prison population is made up of people who can not afford bail and many of these individuals are behind bars because they have committed crimes at the lower or lower level of crime.

This statistic that is significant from the point of view of human rights, but also economic because it costs about 38 million dollars a day to keep these people behind bars, is one of the reasons that led Jay-Z to invest in Promise.

It is an app co-founded by Prince's former manager, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, and human rights activist Diana Frappier who aims to reduce prison rates in the United States.

In particular, the system, open to both government agencies and users on probation, hopes “to create a sustainable and scalable program that will reduce the number of people behind bars, recidivism and the cost of care by extending the capabilities of community supervision.”

But how does it work?

“Promise steps in during the pre-trial process to assist those that cannot afford bail. Following a comprehensive intake procedure, Promise sets up an individualized plan for each participant. Promise then monitors and supports participants to help them succeed with their plans. Each participant has the ‘Promise’ app on their phone and receives an intelligent calendar of their obligations (court appearances, drug testing, substance abuse treatment, etc) and adaptive reminders to help them meet these obligations. Promise also provides coordinated referrals and support based on individual needs, including job training, housing, counseling, etc. Participant progress is tracked so that clients and participants can easily view compliance and status.”

“We are increasingly alarmed by the injustice in our criminal justice system.” - reiterates Jay-Z, enthusiastic about the project -

“Money, time and lives are wasted with the current policies. It’s time for an innovative and progressive technology that offers sustainable solutions to tough problems. Promise’s team, led by Phaedra, is building an app that can help provide “liberty and justice for all” to millions.”

Promise app will formally debut on March 20 at the Combinator Y Demo Day.