Justice-Denied · Editorial cartoons
Cartoon 21 of 26
The Confidentiality Express Lane — Corrected Citations
Satire. Dialogue is imagined; the underlying rulings and records are linked below.
Read cartoon text
Panel 1: STARKEBAUM — SEPT.21, 2026
An anthropomorphic formal motion waits at a wooden courthouse counter beside a closed, unmarked correspondence folder. The only document label is FORMAL MOTION. No settlement contents are visible.
Formal motion: Please restrict this filing.
Panel 2: SEPT.22, 2026
A generic fictional judge stamps the closed folder RESTRICTED beside a one-day calendar. No real judicial likeness or name tag.
Generic judge: Restrict access.
Panel 3: STEVENSON — MARCH 2023
An anthropomorphic file labeled HEARING REQUEST + LETTER waits beside the same sort of courthouse counter. Calendar sheets turn from March to June. The file is closed; no confidential contents are visible.
Hearing request + letter: We raised confidentiality, too.
Panel 4: JUNE 16, 2023
The waiting file stands beside a June calendar and an order marked MOOT. The file looks toward a small fast lane at the other side of the counter. No additional lettering.
Waiting request: Does this desk have an express lane?
Artwork caption: Imagined dialogue. Starkebaum Doc.222, p.1; Stevenson Doc.421, pp.32–33,69–70; Doc.429, p.1 ¶2.
Behind the cartoon
These cases concern confidentiality—keeping filed material from public view. In Precision Locating, LLC and Arvig Enterprises, Inc. v. Martin D. Starkebaum, a formal September 21, 2026 motion led Judge Kevin M. Miller to restrict attorney correspondence the next day. In Stevenson v. Stevenson, counsel for plaintiffs Craig and Marie Stevenson raised publicly filed material covered by a protective order at the March 15, 2023 hearing and followed with a confidential letter. The June 16 dismissal treated remaining requests as moot, meaning no longer requiring a decision, without a separate restriction.
Underlying records
- September 22, 2026 Starkebaum determination, Doc. 222 - excerpt (PDF)Original p. 1 judicial response and comment; excerpt PDF p. 1. Grants the motion and makes the correspondence of both named attorneys confidential.
- March 15, 2023 Stevenson hearing, Doc. 421 - confidentiality-request excerpts (PDF)Original 32:18-25 and 33:1-19 request and response appear on excerpt PDF p. 1. Original 69:17-25 and 70:1-17 hearing conclusion appear on excerpt PDF p. 2. Selected transcript exchanges; counsel’s assertions are identified separately from the court’s response.
- Stevenson Doc.429 — June 16, 2023 — page 1 excerptp.1 ¶2: remaining motions and requests moot
Linked excerpts identify the original court-record pages; this version corrects only the source-page locators in the artwork footer.
More record detail
Starkebaum Doc.222 — September 22, 2026: p.1: grants motion; correspondence from both attorneys to be confidential; Stevenson Doc.421 — March 15, 2023 hearing: pp.32–33 and 69–70: request, note, no later return to issue; Stevenson Doc.429 — June 16, 2023: p.1 ¶2: remaining motions and requests moot
