It was pretty clear last night that Judge Dugan’s defense team wasn’t done. Sure, they lost on one felony count of obstruction, but they intended to appeal that. But Wisconsin Republicans aren’t waiting around. Today Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August offered Judge Dugan an ultimatum: Resign or be impeached.
“Last night a Milwaukee County Judge was convicted of a felony for obstructing the United States government. Judge Hannah Dugan, while wearing judicial robes of the State of Wisconsin, attempted to impede the lawful work of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“Under Article XIII Section 3(2) of the Wisconsin Constitution, ‘[n]o person convicted of a felony, in any court within the United States, no person convicted in federal court of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under federal law as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust and no person convicted, in a court of a state, of a crime designated, at the time of commission, under the law of the state as a misdemeanor involving a violation of public trust shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit or honor in this state unless pardoned of the conviction.’
“The last time a Wisconsin judge was impeached was in 1853. If Judge Dugan does not resign from her office immediately, the Assembly will begin impeachment proceedings.
Vos went on to say that there was a precedent set decades ago by state Democrats on the issue of felony convictions.
“Under a 1976 Attorney General Opinion, Democrat Bronson La Follette stated that when a State Senator was convicted of a felony, a vacancy was created, and the Senator ‘was effectually divested of any right or title to the office. His status with reference to the office was fixed at the time of his conviction.’ 65 Atty. Gen. 264. Such is the case here, and Judge Dugan must recognize that the law requires her resignation.
“Wisconsinites deserve to know their judiciary is impartial and that justice is blind. Judge Hannah Dugan is neither, and her privilege of serving the people of Wisconsin has come to an end.”
We’ve come a long way from just a few months ago when every progressive pundit was claiming this trial was a joke and that there was zero chance Dugan would ever be convicted. Jonathan Turley wrote about that today.
The jury did not agree with Democratic politicians and pundits who heralded her actions. MSNOW regular Norm Eisen and the executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund declared, “this case is a five-alarm fire for our democracy and one of its foundations: judicial independence. Prosecuting a judge for how she runs her courtroom is outrageous and unlawful.”
Abbe Lowell, who represented Hunter Biden, declared
“Judge Dugan’s arrest and prosecution are a blatant attack on judicial independence. By targeting a state judge for her courtroom management, this Administration is signaling its alarming willingness to coerce state courts into executing its federal immigration agenda – an unacceptable assault on federalism and a grave threat to the public’s trust in our court system. Protecting judges from such intimidation is paramount to upholding the rule of law for every American.”
Monica Isham, a circuit judge in Sawyer County, not only defended Judge Hannah Dugan in an email to other state judges but added that she “has no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents] and sent to a concentration camp.”
Not since the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse have progressives been this far off the mark on the outcome of a trial.
Of course, that doesn’t mean some progressive judge at the appeals level won’t step in to save her bacon. But at the moment, her future as a judge looks very much in doubt.
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