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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wisconsin judge argues she is entitled to judicial immunity
MADISON, Wisconsin — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, arguing that there's no legal basis for it. Attorneys for Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan argue in their motion that her conduct on the day in question amounted to directing people's movement in and around her courtroom, and that she enjoys legal immunity for official acts she performs as a judge. They cite last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in President Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case that found that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their 'exclusive sphere of constitutional authority' and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. 'The problems with the prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,' the motion says. 'Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset.' The judge overseeing her case is Lynn Adelman, a former Democratic state senator. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to the bench in 1997. Kenneth Gales, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Milwaukee, declined to comment on the motion. Federal prosecutors charged Dugan in April with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. A grand jury indicted her on the same charges on Tuesday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts. Her attorneys insist Dugan is innocent. She's expected to enter a not guilty plea at her arraignment Thursday. Dugan's arrest has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the Republican president's sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats contend that Dugan's arrest went too far and that the administration is trying to make an example out of her to discourage judicial opposition to the crackdown. Dugan's case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed. According to prosecutors, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. He was charged in March with misdemeanor domestic violence in Milwaukee County and was in Dugan's courtroom for a hearing in that case on April 18. Dugan's clerk alerted her that immigration agents were in the courthouse looking to arrest Flores-Ruiz, prosecutors allege in court documents. According to an affidavit, Dugan became visibly angry at the agents' arrival and called the situation 'absurd.' After discussing the warrant for Flores-Ruiz's arrest with the agents, Dugan demanded that they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom. She then returned to the courtroom, was heard saying something to the effect of 'wait, come with me,' and then showed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a back door, the affidavit says. The immigration agents eventually detained Flores-Ruiz outside the building following a foot chase. Dugan's dismissal motion also accuses the federal government of violating Wisconsin's sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge. 'The government's prosecution here reaches directly into a state courthouse, disrupting active proceedings, and interferes with the official duties of an elected judge,' the motion states. The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench last month, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.
Politico
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Wisconsin judge argues she is entitled to judicial immunity
MADISON, Wisconsin — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, arguing that there's no legal basis for it. Attorneys for Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan argue in their motion that her conduct on the day in question amounted to directing people's movement in and around her courtroom, and that she enjoys legal immunity for official acts she performs as a judge. They cite last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in President Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case that found that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their 'exclusive sphere of constitutional authority' and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. 'The problems with the prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,' the motion says. 'Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset.' The judge overseeing her case is Lynn Adelman, a former Democratic state senator. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to the bench in 1997. Kenneth Gales, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Milwaukee, declined to comment on the motion. Federal prosecutors charged Dugan in April with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. A grand jury indicted her on the same charges on Tuesday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts. Her attorneys insist Dugan is innocent. She's expected to enter a not guilty plea at her arraignment Thursday. Dugan's arrest has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the Republican president's sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats contend that Dugan's arrest went too far and that the administration is trying to make an example out of her to discourage judicial opposition to the crackdown. Dugan's case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed. According to prosecutors, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. He was charged in March with misdemeanor domestic violence in Milwaukee County and was in Dugan's courtroom for a hearing in that case on April 18. Dugan's clerk alerted her that immigration agents were in the courthouse looking to arrest Flores-Ruiz, prosecutors allege in court documents. According to an affidavit, Dugan became visibly angry at the agents' arrival and called the situation 'absurd.' After discussing the warrant for Flores-Ruiz's arrest with the agents, Dugan demanded that they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom. She then returned to the courtroom, was heard saying something to the effect of 'wait, come with me,' and then showed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a back door, the affidavit says. The immigration agents eventually detained Flores-Ruiz outside the building following a foot chase. Dugan's dismissal motion also accuses the federal government of violating Wisconsin's sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge. 'The government's prosecution here reaches directly into a state courthouse, disrupting active proceedings, and interferes with the official duties of an elected judge,' the motion states. The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench last month, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters outside Milwaukee FBI Field Office denounce arrest of Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan
A day after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan's arrest and felony charges, Milwaukee activist groups organized a second protest April 26 — this time, outside the FBI Field Office in St. Francis — to demand Dugan be released and charges against her dropped. Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, and Milwaukee County Supervisor Justin Bielinski shared statements in support of Dugan to a crowd of more than 200 people. Clancy said Dugan was right to tell federal immigration officials they needed a judicial warrant, not an administrative warrant, to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant. "I hope that we can all be as brave as Judge Dugan was," Clancy said. Bielinski said the FBI is operating like it's the "Federal Bureau of Instigation." "I don't believe (Dugan) did break the law," he said. "If she did, she did it for a good reason." Dugan is accused of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest for assisting Flores-Ruiz avoid arrest by federal immigration officials at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Her two felony charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine. After her arrest April 25, about 100 protesters crowded the steps of the federal courthouse in downtown Milwaukee. At the April 26 protest, about 100 cars lined both sides of South Lake Drive near the FBI office, from the St. Francis Seminary to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, where a City of St. Francis police car blocked the street. Janan Najeeb, one of the leaders of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, spoke at the protest, saying Dugan questioning federal immigration officials' warrant shows her loyalty to the Constitution. "The courtroom is not a hunting ground for ICE," Najeeb said. "It is a sanctuary. When our government turns our courtrooms into traps, they are betraying the very laws that they claim to defend." Sara Dady, an immigration attorney, traveled from Rockford, Illinois, to stand up against what she calls a "gross violation of the Constitution." "I have never heard of a state court judge being arrested by the federal government because she chose to control her own courtroom," Dady said. "This is unprecedented." More: Read the charges against Judge Dugan charges, arrested by FBI in ICE case Diana Valencia is an immigration reform advocate for Unity Racine, a nonpartisan organization based in Racine. She said she's concerned that stories like Dugan's and Flores-Ruiz's will cause the immigrant community to be afraid to navigate the justice system, including calling the police. "What can you do if you can't go to the courthouse?" Valencia said. "They're trying to make us fearful." More: Wisconsin Republicans signal they want to remove Judge Hannah Dugan. Here's how that may work. Sara Onitsuka, chair of the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee, said she sees the federal government's decision to arrest Dugan as an "escalation." She said immigrant rights activists and especially those who support Palestine, such as Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, are the Trump administration's first targets. "To see a sitting judge, who very much knows the laws, become a target of this is going to spur a lot of people into action," Onitsuka said. Gina Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at gcastro@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Protest outside FBI office slams Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan's arrest
Newsweek
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Judge Hannah Dugan's Arrest Is 'Not Unprecedented'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The recent arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan has drawn widespread attention—but legal experts say it's far from unprecedented. "The case against the [Wisconsin] judge. It's unusual, but it's not unprecedented," CNN crime correspondent Katelyn Polantz said on Friday. "There has been a case like this before in 2019 during the first Trump administration, charging a judge in Massachusetts who was accused of something very similar, trying to usher someone out of that courtroom as ICE officials were waiting for that defendant," she added. "In that case, that ended up being resolved. Those charges were dropped in the Biden administration against that judge in Massachusetts, but she ended up cutting a deal. So it was a legitimate case there as well." In that 2019 case, Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former court officer Wesley MacGregor were indicted on federal obstruction charges. They were accused of helping a twice-deported undocumented defendant exit a courthouse to evade immigration agents, but the charges were later dropped under the Biden administration, CNN reported. Polantz added that the government has "a case" against Dugan. "Well, they have a case, and that case is going to go on in court," Polantz said. "She hasn't entered a plea yet. She was released after her appearance." Why It Matters Since beginning his second term, Trump has rolled out an aggressive immigration agenda, which has included mass deportations and a shift toward stricter enforcement and fewer legal immigration pathways. The sweeping actions have reignited debate not only about immigration policy, but also about who gets to stay in the United States and under what conditions. As a result, the Trump administration has clashed with judges at all levels over immigration policies and enforcement since Inauguration Day, but Dugan's arrest marks a significant shift in tensions between the justice system and the executive branch. Judges are rarely arrested or impeached, but U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Friday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was going to prosecute more. Judge Hannah Dugan is seen in Milwaukee in 2016. Judge Hannah Dugan is seen in Milwaukee in 2016. Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent/AP What To Know Dugan was arrested Friday by the FBI for allegedly obstructing federal authorities who were seeking to detain an illegal immigrant. According to a 13-page federal complaint, Dugan allegedly helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national, avoid arrest by federal immigration agents after he appeared in her courtroom for a pretrial conference. The complaint accuses her of escorting Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot. Flores-Ruiz is facing three misdemeanor battery charges. He had been in the U.S. since reentering the country after he was deported in 2013, according to court documents. An FBI affidavit describes Dugan as "visibly angry" over the arrival of immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the situation "absurd" before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described as a "confrontational, angry demeanor." Dugan is facing charges of "concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest" and obstructing or impeding a proceeding. The Milwaukee County judge appeared briefly in federal court on Friday before being released from custody. "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety," her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. The charges against Dugan could carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines. Her prosecution follows a broader directive from the Justice Department to pursue local officials who interfere with federal immigration enforcement amid Trump's immigration crackdown. In a January memo, the department instructed prosecutors to consider criminal charges against state and local authorities who obstruct or impede federal operations. The guidance specifically pointed to conspiracy statutes and federal laws against harboring undocumented immigrants as possible legal avenues. Dugan's prosecution has sparked backlash from Trump administration critics. Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest, accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using "dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level." "I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law," he said. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin, called the arrest of a sitting judge a "gravely serious and drastic move" that "threatens to breach" the separation of power between the executive and judicial branches. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Dugan's arrest a "dangerous escalation," while Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson accused Trump of targeting political enemies instead of addressing economic issues. Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari warned it was a clear sign of rising authoritarianism. Trump administration officials have defended the arrest. Bondi wrote on X that "no one is above the law." On FOX News Channel's America Reports, Bondi said the Trump administration will target judges who oppose the president's immigration crackdown. "If you are harboring a fugitive…we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you," she said. Republican Wisconsin Representative Scott Fitzgerald said: "Hannah Dugan allegedly helped an illegal alien evade arrest by ICE. This is an egregious abuse of power by someone sworn to uphold the law." Who Is County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan? Judge Hannah Dugan has been a fixture in Wisconsin's legal community for nearly 30 years. Now in her ninth year on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench, Dugan presides over cases in the court's misdemeanor division. Before joining the judiciary, Dugan devoted much of her professional life to supporting low-income clients, first through legal aid organizations and later as executive director of Catholic Charities. Dugan was elected to the bench in 2016 after unseating then-Governor Scott Walker's appointee, Paul Rifelj, in a contested race for Branch 31. She was re-elected without opposition in 2022, and her current term runs through 2028. Circuit court judges in Wisconsin serve six-year terms. What People Are Saying Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin said in a statement: "In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons. The President's administration arresting a sitting judge is a gravely serious and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those very separations of power. "Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by. By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this President is putting those basic Democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line. While details of this exact case remain minimal, this action fits into the deeply concerning pattern of this President's lawless behavior and undermining courts and Congress's checks on his power." Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement: "In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers—this is the fundamental demand of justice in America. "Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor. "I have deep respect for the rule of law, our nation's judiciary, the importance of judges making decisions impartially without fear or favor, and the efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime. I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law." Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on X: "There are no kings in America. Trump and Bondi can't just decide to arrest sitting judges at will and threaten judges into submission. This is a dangerous escalation, an attack on the separation of powers, and we will fight this with everything we have." Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, in a statement: "I will say, I wish the Trump administration would focus less on settling scores with their perceived political enemies and focus their attention on fixing the economy that they've broken or remedying the mistakes they have made as they slashed through important federal programs." Arizona Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari, on X: "This is why we've been sounding the alarm on authoritarianism. It's happening and it's extremely dangerous." Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X: "I can confirm that our@FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by@ICEgov. No one is above the law." Republican Wisconsin Representative Scott Fitzgerald said on X: "Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helped an illegal alien evade arrest by ICE. This is an egregious abuse of power by someone sworn to uphold the law. No one—especially a judge—should interfere with federal immigration enforcement." Republican Wisconsin Representative Tony Wied, on X: "Not only are activist judges trying to thwart the President's agenda, now they are actively breaking the law to protect illegal aliens. Judge Dugan should resign immediately." What Happens Next Dugan's next court appearance is scheduled for May 15.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Democrat on judge's arrest: ‘Gravely serious and drastic move'
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) says the Trump administration's arrest of a Wisconsin county judge for allegedly helping an immigrant avoid law enforcement is a 'gravely serious and drastic move' that threatens to 'breach' the separation of powers between the branches of government. Baldwin issued her statement Friday in response to the FBI's arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on charges that she obstructed immigration agents attempting to detain an immigrant who lacked legal status and appeared in her courtroom earlier this month. The judge allegedly steered Mexican national Eduardo Flores Ruiz out of her courtroom while Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waited in a hallway to take him into custody. 'Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by,' Baldwin said. 'By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders and arresting a sitting judge, this president is putting those basic democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line. 'While details of this exact case remain minimal, this action fits into the deeply concerning pattern of this president's lawless behavior and undermining courts and Congress's checks on his power,' she said. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on the social platform X that Dugan had 'intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.' Dugan appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries on Friday and is charged with two felonies for helping Flores Ruiz. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
