6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS INJUSTICE JUNE 12, 2026 Weekly rallies at Women's Huron Valley Prison call for medical clemency, transparency, reparations, facility closure LINDSAY CALKA Publisher Over the past month, three women have died while in custody at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV), amplifying the decades-long movement to shut down the only women’s prison in Michigan and free Krystal Clark, along with all medically fragile and elderly women. Earlier this year, Michigan State Representative Laurie Pohutsky presented a case of abuse and neglect being inflicted upon women at WHV to the Michigan House Oversight Committee. During the February 24 session, former employees and inmates testified to black mold, sexual assault of inmates by corrections officers, denial of medical attention, drug trafficking by prison employees — and retaliation for attempting to speak out against these injustices prior. The oversight committee voiced concern in response to the presenation, but no concrete actions were taken beyond calling for further investigation. This inaction proved to have deathly consequences. Khaira Howard, 28, died May 14, 2026. She was sentenced to be released May 27. Witnesses report she was left alone for 45 minutes while supposed to be under medical observation by prison staff. Two days later on May 16, Rebecca Fackler, 57, died from a severe cyst infection in her leg born from a surgery complication. June 6, Ashley Hoath, 36, died. Cause of death is officially unknown, with mixed reports of suicide and overdose. Michigan elected officials have published statements calling for the resignation of Heidi Washington, Michigan Department of Corrections Director. A June 10 rally outside the prison on Bemis Road in Ypsilanti brought out more than 60 community members and affected family members. A coalition of organizations presented demands including: Independent and transparent investigations surrounding the deaths of Hoath, Howard and Fackler; Release all findings, medical files and bodycam/ security footage to their families; Financial reparations to the grieving families and for the women inside surviving torture due to medical neglect and uninhabitable conditions at WHV; Immediate outside medical care to all women needing treatment; Medical clemency for all the severely frail women inside; Gretchen Whitmer immediately release Krystal Clark; Shut Down Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility "the Valley of Death." Krystal Clark is a whistle-blower suffering from mold exposure. You can read more about the campaign to free Krystal in the May 1, 2026, May 31, 2024 and Feb. 9, 2024 editions of Groundcover News. Rallies will continue weekly on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. outside WHV, 3201 E. Bemis Road. Community member writes postcard to Gov. Whitmer, demanding she grant medical clemency to Krystal Clark. Loved ones of Khaira Howard wave signs in her memory. Howard, 28, died inside WHV less than two weeks before her release date. The age of pride, vanity and convenient hypocrisy This particular span of time that humanity has been witness to has been a remarkable age of wonder. In less than two centuries we have developed technology that has revolutionized humankind's very way of life and every conceivable subject it entails. Medicine, transportation, industry and every conceivable discipline has evolved in ways that have dramatically impacted the quality of life for pretty much every person on earth — yet not always positively. Despite the rapid advancement of our world, humanity has remained unable to cease its talent for showcasing the absolute worst traits of human nature. Additionally, unfortunately, that particular showmanship has also evolved, and atrocities alone are no longer enough for satisfaction; we have been discovering ways to take it many steps further. Despite multiple millennia in which through trial and error we experience, we learn, and we are humbled, we find ways to behave as if we’ve never learned a thing. Regardless of knowing better, we tend to use presumed traits of others, regardless of how flawed, and the lack of either factual or firsthand JAMES MANNING Groundcover vendor No. 16 knowledge of them, as a justification. Even if the argument is so weak it’s more accurate to just call it an excuse rather than a justification. Even though we know it’s wrong and outright bigoted, it’s still a tool nearly everybody reaches for. Many, if not most, people will hardly even hesitate to mistreat others, especially if a self-serving purpose is involved. Going back to knowing better, we know this to be morally wrong at the very least. No matter how harmful it turns out to be for the person you targeted, you are going to do what you want over what is right, most times. When everything’s done you will either be absolutely convinced the person you exploited deserved it or had it coming in some way. That belief is fact to you, so much so that the last thing you will ever willingly concern yourself with is the truth, especially because whatever action you have taken has been rationalized and excused to allow you to feel that you have in fact done nothing wrong. We as a species have come a long way in all we have learned and discovered, yet still the average person behaves this way nearly every day of their life or whenever the chance arises. Believing proudly they are in the right and would possibly murder anyone who tells them otherwise, over admitting reality. Admitting to being anything less than perfect is to turn your back on your own sense of pride. Unfortunately this is the golden age of inflamed ego, shameless pride and the vanity to eternally avoid having to address the less than honorable things people do. If I were to define modern day America in a single world, it would be vanity. It really does capture the shallowness associated with the average person here. The willingness to simultaneously feign ignorance, which in turn excuses living in existential dread of your neighbors as potential threats. And so it's treated as a universal truth, especially when a great deal of media we consume bombards us with these implications. Therefore we find ourselves with tailor-made and sound reasons for pre-emptive attack. We’ll often find anyone with perceived vulnerabilities who is unlikely capable of defending themself from whatever it is we have in mind. Again this is largely for self-serving purposes where the basic strategy involves the greatest reward at minimum risk. We instinctively know all this is wrong, and we do it over and over and over. All this leaves a void. Not just between classes but in the very nature of how we communicate. People think so highly of themselves, all the while being fundamentally broken on so many levels. This article isn’t underlining anything particularly new. However, I try my best to encourage others to give the world around us a slightly more critical analysis. The seemingly endless list of problems we face today will never get resolved (and they are never going to just go away on their own) until the day we drop all the fear and are willing to address them.
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