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Cartoon 14 of 26

Small-Town Seating

Satire. Dialogue is imagined; the underlying rulings and records are linked below.

Editorial cartoon: Small-Town Seating. Cartoon text below.

Small-Town Seating

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Enlarged editorial cartoon: Small-Town Seating. Cartoon text is available below the artwork on the page.
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Panel 1: OTTER TAIL · 2013–2014
Three generic judicial robes hang on hooks beside empty courtroom chairs. Three signed cards read RECUSAL. No actual judges pictured or named on robes.
Signed notice: The appearance matters. I will step aside.

Panel 2: THREE RECUSALS
Three chairs stand empty, with signed recusal notices on the seats.
Reader: Three judges. Three appearance concerns.

Panel 3: THE 2025 APPEAL
A 2025 appellate opinion sits beside an occupied chair. Depict a different court, not the same judge reversing course.
Opinion: Familiarity is normal in a small community.

Panel 4: DIFFERENT SEATING POLICY
A reader holds both records between the empty chairs and occupied chair. The existing plaintiff-side human figure in this panel is Craig Stevenson.
Craig: Does the furniture decide which connections matter?

Artwork caption: Imagined dialogue. Signed 2013–2014 recusal notices; Stevenson, A25-0186 (2025), p. 8.

Behind the cartoon

In Western Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Ugstad Plumbing, a property-damage case involving Robert and Lois Russell, three Otter Tail County judges recused—stepped aside—in 2013–2014. Their notices cited knowing the Russells, discussing damage to their home, or a daughter’s partnership in a law firm involved.

In 2025, Craig and Marie Stevenson sought to disqualify Judge Kevin M. Miller because a clerk assisting him had previously worked for the father of a defense lawyer. The Court of Appeals affirmed denial, emphasizing the realities of a small community with three judges. The cartoon compares the expressed approaches to familiarity.

Underlying records

More record detail

Judge Waldemar Senyk recusal, January31,2013, 56-CV-13-228: Single-page signed notice, item3 handwritten explanation: acquainted with the Russells, discussed fire damage; 'I would appear biased.'; Judge Mark Hansen recusal, signedFebruary10/filedFebruary11,2014,56-CV-13-228: Single-page signed notice, item3: 'My daughter is a partner in one of the firms involved in the litigation.'; Judge Barbara Hanson recusal,February14,2014,56-CV-13-228: Single-page signed notice,item3: knows Russells, Mr.Russell regularly appears as attorney; recusal 'to avoid an appearance of impropriety.'; Stevenson v. Stevenson, A25-0186, July28,2025 (nonprecedential): p4 clerk-assignment statement and appearance standard; pp5-6 review/appearance analysis; p6 footnote3 and plaintiffs' January2017 assertion; p8 substantive-influence finding and small-three-judge-community reasoning; p9 affirmance.

Related reporting

About the author

Craig Stevenson

Craig Stevenson is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Justice-Denied.org. He is President and CEO of Stevenson Technical Services, Inc. (STSI), which traces its roots to Craig’s Radio & TV, founded in 1979 and renamed STSI in 1989. He also founded and operated C&R Cable Company, Inc. from 1981 until its sale in 1989. Craig and his wife, Marie, have been married for more than 36 years and are the parents of two adult daughters.