56B District Court, City of Hastings — March 26, 2026 at 1:30 PM
206 W. Court Street, Hastings, MI 49058 — Courtroom open to the public.
Rita Williams is the founder of Clutch Justice and today we are asking her community to show up for her on March 26th. Here’s why.
Three years ago, Rita’s husband, Ryan was arrested in front of their children after he had already scheduled a voluntary turn-in in Hastings, Michigan. From there, Barry County Michigan authorities never did another honest thing.
...And like all super heroes, that moment is where Rita’s story starts.
She started documenting everything — because that’s just Rita does. What followed was three years of watching Barry County’s justice system lie, breaking promises, and destroying families while she reported on every institutional failure she could document.
Ryan’s case is now heading to oral argument at the Michigan Court of Appeals. A Supreme Court remand already happened; a brief written by Ryan and Rita. People v. Williams may become published Michigan case law — built entirely by two non-attorneys fighting from inside the wreckage of what Barry County did to them.
While that fight was happening they came for her, too.
And because she was alone, she took probation because she couldn’t afford to fight.
And for nearly two years, she reported pressure and harassment. For another seven months, she documented stalking, death threats, and harassment to her Barry County probation officer, Chrystal Lambert. Thirteen notifications. Zero police reports filed on her behalf. Instead, Lambert accepted communications directly from her harasser, encouraged him to send her “anything relevant,” and ignored a licensed therapist’s clinical assessment that she “was responding appropriately to documented stress.”
On February 20th — nine days after written confirmation that no wrongdoing occurred — Lambert filed a probation violation against Rita….under penalty of perjury.
Timed on a Friday. It cost Rita her job the same day.
On March 4th, Rita stood alone in that courtroom against eight institutional representatives and argued five motions pro se. The People’s own exhibits were exculpatory. Judge William Doherty adjourned to March 26th and left my two most important motions — termination of violation and transfer of probation — alive.
The morning after that hearing, Lambert emailed her therapist attempting to plant clinical characterizations designed to undermine Rita’s credibility. The therapist called Rita immediately, documenting that Lambert had been deliberately trying to destabilize her throughout supervision, readily providing a written statement to her public defender, and agreeing to testify.
This is what happens when a journalist documents institutional misconduct and a Corrupt County refuses to stop.
They come for your freedom. Your income. Your mental health. Your family.
They send eight county employees to your hearing. They try to turn your support systems against you…That’s Barry County, Michigan.
And they do it while your husband’s case is heading to the Court of Appeals to hold the same system accountable.
We are not asking you to come because Rita needs emotional support. We are asking you to come because public hearings are public. Because witnesses matter. Because a packed courtroom sends a message that the right people are watching.
Journalists. Advocates. Criminal justice reform community. Michigan legal observers. Anyone who has ever watched an institution target someone for telling the truth — this hearing is for you, too.
March 26, 2026. 1:30 PM.
56B District Court, City of Hastings
206 W. Court Street, Hastings, MI 49058
Share this. Tag someone who needs to see it. Show up if you can.
The record is built. The witnesses are ready. Now we need the room full.
