The Prosecutor’s Role in Community-Based Care: Policy, Implementation, and Outcomes
After attending a phenomenal Vera Institute symposium, I began asking myself: how can voters, researchers, and practitioners change the broken…
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.
5 Evidence-Based Policies for Community Supervision (Pew Analysis)
Community supervision — also known as parole or probation — is a silent but strong arm of the correctional system….
NCSC Finds Racial Inequities in Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission Investigations
The National Center for State Courts completed their report on racial equity within the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission — the…
Michigan Juvenile Indigent Defense Bill on its Way to Governor Whitmer
Legislative Update — Bill Did Not Become Law This piece was written December 13, 2024, when HB 4630 appeared headed…
Gun Violence, Data, and the Failure of “Tough on Crime” Policies in Michigan
Written from the Symposium · Dec 11, 2024 Rita attended the Vera Institute’s two-day virtual symposium on Gun Violence in…
Incarceration Doesn’t Make Communities Safer. It Destroys Them.
A 2017 study by the highly regarded Vera Institute — supported by the National Institute of Corrections — finds that…
Urgent Call to Action: Support Michigan HB 6090 (Family Visitation Bill)
Action Window Closed — Archived for Reference This call to action was published December 10, 2024, ahead of an anticipated…
Parental Incarceration and Future Generations: Examining Harmful Effects on Children
Sadly, most people are unaware of the silent, intergenerational, collateral consequences of parental incarceration. Two studies — one in the…
Parental Closeness Disrupted by Incarceration, Study Finds
Not surprisingly, the research demonstrates that incarceration damages parental closeness due to the inability for a parent to participate in…
A Generation at Risk: Mass Incarceration’s Hidden Toll on Children
A 2021 study examining adverse health outcomes and mortality among children of incarcerated parents proves what advocates have been saying…
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