Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, who is facing accusations of helping a man evade arrest by US immigration agents on Tuesday, lost an attempt to throw out the Trump administration’s case against her.
She was arrested at the county courthouse in April and indicted on federal charges in May. She filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution.
Judge Dugan has pleaded not guilty to helping the man in the country illegally try to evade authorities (Photo: AP)
What the court said
However, US District Judge Lynn Adelman on Tuesday rejected that argument and upheld the July recommendation of a magistrate judge who also ruled that the case could proceed.
Adelman said the dispute boils down to Dugan arguing that there is a general rule of immunity for judges from prosecution, with some limited exceptions, while the government argues that the cited exceptions are simply examples of types of prosecutions that have been brought.
“A review of the relevant history reveals the government has the better of the argument,” Adelman wrote.
He said that “the particulars of this case may be unusual,” but “there is no firmly established judicial immunity barring criminal prosecution of judges for judicial acts. There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered ‘part of a judge’s job.’”
Disappointed: Dugan’s lawyer
Attorneys for Dugan said in a statement that they were disappointed with the judge’s decision, but “we look forward to the trial, which will show Judge Dugan did nothing wrong and simply treated this case like any other in front of her courtroom.”
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Dugan has pleaded not guilty to helping the man in the country illegally try to evade authorities. No trial date has been set. She faces up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine if convicted on both counts.
What did Judge Hannah Dugan do?
In a motion in May to dismiss the charges, Dugan argued that the federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge. Dugan also argued that the prosecution under federal law violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers because it overrides the state of Wisconsin’s ability to administer its courts.
Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanour, and obstruction, which is a felony. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him for being in the country without permanent legal status. Agents arrested Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase.
Milwaukee police last week released body camera footage of Dugan saying she didn’t know Flores-Ruiz was in the country illegally. The comments were captured three days before her arrest in April after Dugan called police because of potentially threatening flyers she and family members had received.
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The footage shows Dugan telling police that media reports had been swirling about how she supposedly “hid” Flores-Ruiz in her courtroom. She goes on to say that she didn’t know the person in her courtroom that day was in the country illegally and she denied giving him special treatment. “It’s all lies,” Dugan told officers. She later said, “I didn’t do anything that they’re saying.”
Her 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.
