The Trial Penalty Is Real: How Fear of Long Sentences Forces Innocent People to Plead Guilty
Every day across the United States, people accused of crimes face an impossible gamble: plead guilty (even if they’re innocent)…
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.
Macomb Correctional Facility Was Using a Golf Course’s WiFi — And It Explains the Temujin Kensu “WiFi Stick” Story
In recent weeks, public discussion around the Temujin Kensu case has intensified, particularly following reporting by The Murder Sheet podcast regarding digital…
Michigan’s ICAC Task Force and the “Opening the Door” Campaign: Protecting Kids from Online Predators
The internet should never be the doorway to a child’s worst nightmare. In Michigan, the State Police Internet Crimes Against…
Michigan Legislature Finally Approves Decades-Old Michigan DOC Request for Safety Railings
It shouldn’t take 10 years, but FINALLY the fixes are coming. If your loved one is behind bars in Michigan,…
Michigan’s Court-Funding Shift: A Big Deal — and What It Reveals About Political Resistance
A recent proposal from the Michigan Judicial Council and the Trial Court Funding Commission may offer a much needed overhaul…
Justice Reform Paywalled: The Crisis No One Wants to Talk About
It’s already understood that in the criminal legal system, people are hurting. What people may not realize, is that it…
The Weaponization of the Legal System by Mothers with Severe Borderline Personality Disorder: A Silent Epidemic
Today, I’m going to talk about something few are brave enough to say out loud: some mothers with severe, untreated Borderline…
The Cameras Don’t Lie: 2025 Becomes Michigan’s Year of Public Judicial Misconduct Complaints
Another day, another Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission complaint, it seems. And once again, it’s video footage dragging the truth into…
Family Court Isn’t an Individual Fight — It’s a National One. And It’s Time We Start Acting Like It.
If your inbox looks anything like mine, you know exactly what I’m about to say:People are fed up with the courts, but…
Trauma Brain Fog Is Real — and Here’s the Science Behind Why
There’s a special kind of frustration that comes with trauma brain fog. You sit down, ready to work, ready to…
You must be logged in to post a comment.