Expungement Fairs: How Clearing Criminal Records Restores Opportunity and Hope
Expungement fairs are one of those strange American fixes that are both genuinely good and quietly damning. They help people…
Rita Williams
Rita Williams is a Michigan-based judicial oversight analyst and founder of Clutch Justice, an investigative platform focused on court system accountability, sentencing integrity, and SCAO policy. Her work examines how courts, policies, and administrative systems operate in practice, with a focus on where process breaks down and harm is created. Drawing on lived experience and systems-level analysis, she writes to make legal structures more readable, expose institutional gaps, and advocate for reforms grounded in both evidence and human impact. Rita’s writing bridges legal analysis, institutional critique, and public education, with a consistent focus on accountability without losing sight of the people most affected by the justice system.
Why Handwritten Letters Matter in Prison: Human Connection in a Digital Age
There are faster ways to communicate. Easier ways. Digital systems, monitored messaging platforms, prepaid kiosks. But none of them replace…
When Crime Reporting Becomes Harm: How Sensational Media Distorts Justice and Fuels Violence
The media doesn’t just report crime. It shapes what people believe crime looks like—and who they believe it belongs to….
Exceptional Clearances Explained: How Police Clearance Rates Can Mislead the Public
Exceptional clearance is an important but often misunderstood concept in law enforcement statistics. It serves a legitimate reporting function, but…
The Criminal Justice System’s Blind Spot: Autism and Legal Inequities
The system doesn’t just misunderstand neurodivergence. It often treats it as a problem to control. Autistic and neurodivergent individuals move…
A Whistleblower Exposes Corruption Inside Michigan DOC—and the State Looks Away
Corruption doesn’t usually collapse a system from the outside. It survives because the inside is structured to protect itself. This…
Why “Happy Face” Is the Rare Crime Series That Respects Human Rights
Stories like this don’t just tell us what happened. They force us to confront what harm actually does—to people, to…
Michigan DOC Corrections Officer Evades Accountability for Destruction of Property, Harassing Neighbors
Note: Clutch made a massive breakthrough in this story. Read it here. In Ionia Township, Michigan, a local resident has…
Michigan Courts Are Blocking Public Access—Dr. Samantha Hallman Is Challenging That in Court
Michigan courts say proceedings are public. Then they quietly decide whether you’re allowed to actually see them. That contradiction is…
New York Releasing Incarcerated Individuals Early, Cites Staffing Shortage
Corrections Policy & Mass Incarceration New York’s prison system began releasing people early in April 2025 because it could not…
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