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The Privacy Rug

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

Editorial cartoon: The Privacy Rug. Cartoon text below.

The Privacy Rug

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Enlarged editorial cartoon: The Privacy Rug. Cartoon text is available below the artwork on the page.
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Masthead: JUSTICE-DENIED | SATIRE
Series: DOCKET CLEANING
Title: THE PRIVACY RUG

Panel 1: MARCH 2023
Marie presents a closed PRIVACY REQUEST folder at Judge Miller’s bench.
Marie: Please deal with the public filing.

Panel 2: REQUEST STILL PENDING
The request remains on the floor as the calendar turns from March to June; the judge holds a broom and rolled rug.

Panel 3: JUNE 2023
The judge sweeps the closed request beneath a MOOT rug beside a DISMISSED case file.
Judge Miller: That takes care of the request.

Panel 4: THE BUMP REMAINS
Marie points to a bump under the rug while a PUBLIC ACCESS lamp remains lit. No confidential contents are displayed.
Marie: The request is gone. The exposure isn’t.

Footer:
SATIRE • IMAGINED SCENES AND DIALOGUE
Doc. 421, pp. 32–33, 69–70; Doc. 429, p. 1.

Behind the cartoon

At the March 2023 hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel raised public use of designated-confidential information and sought permission to move. The judge said he would return to it. The hearing ended without that return; the June dismissal made pending requests moot. The continuing public-access effect follows the site’s September 22, 2026 review.

Underlying records

  • Doc. 421, pp. 32–33, 69–70Doc. 421, pp. 32–33, 69–70; At the March 2023 hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel raised public use of designated-confidential information and sought permission to move. The judge said he would return to it. The hearing ended without that return; the June dismissal made pending requests moot. The continuing public-access effect follows the site’s September 22, 2026 review.
  • Doc. 429, p. 1Doc. 429, p. 1; At the March 2023 hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel raised public use of designated-confidential information and sought permission to move. The judge said he would return to it. The hearing ended without that return; the June dismissal made pending requests moot. The continuing public-access effect follows the site’s September 22, 2026 review.

Docket Cleaning series. Cleaning equipment, scenes, and dialogue are imagined editorial satire. Court-page locators refer to original document pages. The public-access effect depicts the historical condition described in Justice-Denied’s September 22, 2026 review.

More record detail

Stevenson v. Stevenson, Otter Tail County case 56-CV-20-2928. At the March 2023 hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel raised public use of designated-confidential information and sought permission to move. The judge said he would return to it. The hearing ended without that return; the June dismissal made pending requests moot. The continuing public-access effect follows the site’s September 22, 2026 review. Sources: Doc. 421, pp. 32–33, 69–70; Doc. 429, p. 1.

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.