In Brief Minnesota’s Board on Judicial Standards (BJS) publicly promises accountability, impartiality, and enforcement of the Code of Judicial Conduct. But its responses to documented misconduct complaints tell a different story: repeated dismissals, no... Minnesota’s courts have long recognized one of the clearest principles in due-process jurisprudence: a judge may not independently investigate facts outside the record. When they do, it is structural error—automatically reversible, with no need to prove prejudice.... Minnesota’s Supreme Court has long held that when a judge independently investigates or considers facts outside the record, the resulting violation is structural error requiring automatic reversal. That rule, established in State v. Dorsey and reaffirmed repeatedly... Today I published a deeply personal article titled “Five Years Later - My Perspective” where I share what the last five plus years have done to Marie — the fear, the betrayal, the disease, and the absence of justice. Many of you have asked: “Why would anybody do... Every Minnesotan has the right to an impartial judge — one who decides cases only on the evidence presented, not on facts gathered privately or through outside inquiry. That principle may sound self-evident, but recent cases show how easily it can be forgotten or... On October 18, 2025, I filed a formal complaint with the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards (BJS) calling for discipline of Judge Kevin M. Miller (Otter Tail County District Court) and Judges Jennifer L. Frisch, Randall J. Slieter, and Tracy M. Smith (Minnesota... Even under the law before the Minnesota Supreme Court’s September 3, 2025 decision in State v. Duol (A24-1754), the Court of Appeals’ opinion in Stevenson v. Stevenson (A25-0186) misframed and minimized a due-process problem. It treated a judge’s independent... Minnesota law is clear: judges decide cases on the record the parties create, not on facts they find themselves or “selected facts” they prefer. For years, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has treated a judge’s independent investigation or reliance on extra-record... One of the most basic rules of judicial conduct is this: judges cannot act as their own investigators. They cannot perform Google searches, consult outside sources, or dig up facts that were never introduced into evidence. When they do, they stop being neutral... One of the most basic rules of judging is simple: a judge cannot go outside the record to investigate facts. The Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct makes this clear, and appellate courts have repeated it time and time again: decisions must be based on the evidence... During oral argument in our appeal, Judge Tracy Smith asked: “And how do those facts get into the record if they're relevant to the decision on, you know, a motion that someone has brought?” On the surface, it might sound like an innocent procedural question. But... Following the loss of our recent appeal, I wanted to know just how often the Minnesota Court of Appeals confronts situations where a trial judge conducts their own (independent) investigation into disputed facts—a practice that runs directly against the core... In a decision handed down today, July 28, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling that reeks of institutional protectionism and selective blindness. The court refused to disqualify Judge Kevin Miller—despite undisputed evidence that his law clerk,... In a troubling opinion issued June 30, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a Mille Lacs County judge for dismissing criminal charges based on improper legal standards, speculation, and what the appellate court called “a collateral attack” on a harassment... There is a famous quip, often attributed to Groucho Marx, that captures a deep and dangerous absurdity: “Who are you going to believe—me, or your lying eyes?” That’s exactly what it feels like to encounter a justice system that insists—again and again—that nothing... On June 2, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued a powerful reversal in Wakasugi v. 3M, holding that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment on claims of pregnancy discrimination and retaliatory discharge. However, just fourteen months... In a troubling decision issued on May 27, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a probation revocation in State v. Jaeger (A24-1375) but declined to take the one step that would restore public confidence in the case: reassigning it to a different judge on... On January 24, 2022, Judge Kevin Miller signed an Amended Protective Order in Stevenson v. Stevenson, Case No. 56-CV-20-2928. That order, like the original from July 22, 2021, imposed strict confidentiality requirements on litigants—mandating that any court filings... Christopher Cadem’s recent column in The Fergus Falls Daily Journal offers a spirited defense of Minnesota’s judiciary, portraying it as an impartial arbiter that wisely balances public safety and constitutional rights. He goes so far as to suggest that critiques... In 2015, Zachary and Connor Kvalvog died in a rollover crash en route to a basketball tournament. Their father, Raymond Kvalvog, has since fought for accountability against Park Christian School (PCS), coach Josh Lee, and others, asserting negligence, cover-up, and... The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page has been updated to include new entries regarding Marie's health and future plans.... Now that the initial part of the web site is largely complete, I added a blog to allow me to announce important updates, new pages, etc. Marie and I will also use the blog to comment on various topics.When the Message Doesn’t Match the Reality
When the Rule Matters—and When It Doesn’t
When Structural Error Applies for Some
Five Years Later – My Perspective
A Constitutional Right to an Impartial Judge
When the Judges Investigate Themselves
Two Opinions, One Problem
When Judges Go Off-Record
When Judges Investigate on Their Own
When Judicial Rules Apply to Some – But Not Others
When the Law Says No, But a Judge Says How Else?
Independent Investigations – By The Numbers
When Connections Don’t Count
When Judges Cross the Line—And Still Keep the Case
Who Are You Going to Believe—Me, or Your Lying Eyes?
Two Faces of Summary Judgment
When Familiarity Breeds Bias
Judge Miller’s Selective Enforcement
The Myth of a Fair System
Silencing by Sanction
Updated FAQ Page
New Blog
Child abuse isn’t easy to talk about. While there are various times set aside each year to bring awareness to the topic, many still shy away from it. In fact, someone once told me not to expect meaningful conversations about it in our shared social circles. They... Today, June 4, 2025, marks five years since the start of the events that triggered our civil lawsuit in Otter Tail County. I was at work, handling tasks for our family business, when my phone rang. It was my mother. Her voice was tense: “Are you sitting down?... Anyone who has to prepare for a deposition should take the time to read Jim Garrity's excellent deposition preparation book, Five-Minute Guide to Creating Invincible Deponents. Going into a deposition for the first time can be intimidating, and Garrity outlines the... Attending a deposition as a party in a lawsuit was a new experience for me in early 2022. Craig and I were scheduled for a two-day block of depositions on a Thursday and Friday in a conference room at the Otter Tail County Courthouse. Those two days happened to be... "The pen is mightier than the sword."- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1839 ♥ Marie Stevenson is a wife and mother, and is the Secretary and CFO of a small business located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Marie and Craig have been married for over 35...Child Abuse – One in Four: We Need to Talk About It
Five Years Later – A Look Back
Truthfulness in Depositions
Craig’s Deposition – My Answers!
The Power of the Pen