Judge Refuses to Dismiss Case Against Judge Hannah Dugan

Judge Hannah Dugan is the Milwaukee judge who was arrested for interfering with an attempt by ICE to arrest a criminal alien from Mexico named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. Judge Dugan learned an arrest team was present in the courthouse, confronted them in the hallway and saw they had a warrant, but ordered them to go see the chief judge in his office. 

While the team was occupied, she rushed through a court appearance and ushered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a side door not available to the public. Luckily there was one member of the arrest team still waiting in the hallway who got on the elevator with Flores-Ruiz. He was eventually arrested outside after he tried to flee on foot.

Judge Dugan was arrested by the FBI in April but has claimed, through her attorneys, that she was acting in her capacity as a judge when she interfered in the arrest. Last night a judge ruled against her request to dismiss the case against her.

Dugan filed a motion in May to dismiss the charges against her, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. She argued that the federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph on Monday recommended against dropping the charges…

Joseph wrote in her recommendation that while judges have immunity from civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages when engaging in judicial acts, that does not apply to criminal charges like those in this case.

“A judge’s actions, even when done in her official capacity, does not bar criminal prosecution if the actions were done in violation of the criminal law,” Joseph wrote.

Judge Dugan is not being sued in civil court, she is in criminal court where a conviction could result in up to six years in prison. There is no immunity to criminal charges. Judge Joseph also concluded that there was a disagreement about the facts of the case which needed to go before a jury.

Joseph’s 37-page report and recommendation also states that the prosecution and Dugan’s team should resolve any differences regarding the facts of the cases at trial.

“Dugan disputes the government’s version of events, and the government will have the burden of proving its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” Joseph wrote. “However, these contested facts cannot be resolved at this juncture.”

Judge Joseph’s report is not the final word however. It will still be up to the trial judge, District Judge Lynn Adelman, to decide whether to accept Judge Joseph’s recommendations or reject them and dismiss the case. But for now it appears that’s unlikely. Judge Dugan’s attorneys have said they will appeal.

“We are disappointed in the magistrate judge’s non-binding recommendation, and we will appeal it,” Dugan’s attorney, Steven Biskupic, said in a statement. “This is only one step in what we expect will be a long journey to preserve the independence and integrity of our courts.”

There is no issue with the integrity of the courts here, from what I can tell. The arrest team arrived at court with a warrant and identified themselves. They then took up places in the hallway outside Dugan’s court room on the 6th floor and intended to wait until her hearing with Flores-Ruiz was over before arresting him. It was Judge Dugan who went into the hallway and interfered with the arrest team which included FBI agents as well as ICE officers. The hallway is not considered part of the judge’s courtroom.

Of course none of this means Judge Dugan is going to jail. The Trump administration pursued a similar case during his first term.

The Justice Department pursued a similar case during Trump’s first term in office, when a Massachusetts judge was charged with helping an undocumented immigrant escape from a courthouse. The charges were dropped under an agreement in 2022, with the judge required to report herself to the state’s judicial discipline commission.

Now that the dismissal is (probably) off the table, something similar could happen here. Judge Dugan could make some kind of agreement that would involve her admitting her actions were out of bounds in exchange for dropping the charges. That’s probably the most likely outcome.