Michigan Juvenile Lifer Resentencing Backlog: A Self-Inflicted Crisis
Legislative Watch: Senate Bill 592 (2025) passed the Senate and is currently in the House; it seeks to require the…
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.
Michigan’s Double Dipping Dilemma: How Counties Profit from Liquor Sales and Drunk Driving Penalties
Legislative Watch: House Bills 5083 and 5084 (2025-2026) are currently pending and seek to eliminate specific wine and beer taxes….
Oakland County Judge Kirsten Nielson Hartig Pulled from Felony Cases
Direct Answer This article frames Judge Kirsten Nielson Hartig’s removal from felony cases as an administrative accountability event, not just…
Lead, Law, and Incarceration: How Environmental Poisoning Fuels the Criminal Justice System
Direct Answer Lead poisoning is not just a public health issue. This article argues it is also a justice issue….
When Celebration Hurts: How Mass Incarceration Punishes Women and Families
Direct Answer One in four women — one in two Black women — have an incarcerated loved one. Over 5…
America’s Modern Debtors’ Prisons: How Poverty Is Still Criminalized
Direct Answer The United States formally abolished debtors’ prisons in the 1830s. Today, a system of court fines, fees, cash…
IGNITE Proves Jail Education Works: How a Michigan Program Is Reducing Misconduct and Recidivism
Direct Answer A peer-reviewed NBER study of the IGNITE program at Genesee County Jail in Flint, Michigan found a 25%…
5 Criminal Justice System Myths
Direct Answer The criminal justice system is not what television taught most people to expect. It is not designed to…
What is an Amicus Brief?
Direct Answer An amicus curiae brief — Latin for “friend of the court” — is a document filed in a…
MDOC Whistleblower Lawsuit Exposes Sexual Abuse, Retaliation, and Lack of Oversight
Direct Answer A former Michigan Department of Corrections employee has filed a federal lawsuit alleging sexual coercion by the department’s…
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