Last week, I received a 14-page manifesto from multiple individuals housed at Kent County Jail around June 2025, many of them still incarcerated. The alleged violations are maddening.
The US Constitution dictates that as citizens, we’re all to be considered innocent until proven guilt. Apparently that’s not at all true in Kent County, Michigan, where multiple incarcerated individuals have been held past Speed Trial rights in Michigan, some being housed for 6-10 months before having their day in court.
But you know who isn’t getting held longer? According to sources close to a case, white people who can pay $5,000 cash bail. They stay for 30 minutes tops.
Pending FOIA requests, there are multiple unsettling civil rights violations to investigate, including:
- Denial of Due Process Rights
- Denying the right to a speedy trial
- Judges and prosecutors making multiple adjournments
- Denying arraignments
- Excessive Bond
- Charges being merged, cleared, and dismissed (but not actually dismissed)
- Punishing defendants with adjournments if they refuse to take a plea deal
- Attorneys having personal relationships and friendships with clerks, judges, and prosecutors
- Pushing for plea deals without looking into cases
- Police Brutality
- Charge Stacking
- Unsigned Warrants
- Refusing to provide court transcripts and recordings
- ….And the list goes on
Clutch will be investigating every single case, requesting FOIAs, body cams, and transcripts.
But we’ll need your help to make it happen. Body cam footage and FOIAs may get expensive for this, especially if we have to fight for them.
Please consider donating to clutch to help us get to the truth.
