clutch. is a restorative justice-focused team comprised of investigative journalists and incarceration-impacted experts working to expose corruption in the criminal justice system and beyond. We embrace a humanist perspective and believe in justice for all.
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has issued a reprimand with conditions against David M. Sinutko (P52801) of Utica, Michigan, effective September 27, 2025, following consent discipline proceedings…
Michigan’s sentencing system is not advisory in spirit; it is statutory in design. The Legislature created sentencing guidelines to constrain…
Court watchers are, simply put, the justice system’s early warning system. They are in the room when things start to…
Courts are one of the last places in modern society where a single person’s cognitive capacity carries absolute, largely unreviewed…
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has issued a reprimand against Thomas M. Ripley (P40192) of Shelbyville, Michigan, effective September 5, 2025, following consent discipline proceedings. The reprimand…
Life is better without court. Here’s why keeping the legal system out of your life is often the smartest move…and…
On the heels of Oakland County Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig’s dementia diagnosis, I felt it worth stating something the judicial…
The legal system likes to describe itself as meritocratic. Neutral, even. Open to anyone with the credentials and the “grit”…
Every person who walks into a courtroom assumes one basic thing: the judge deciding their case is mentally capable of…
Major Development in Judge Kirsten Nielson Hartig Judicial Tenure Investigation Reinforces Need for Mental Fitness Standards on the Bench. For…
