Wisconsin Judge Indicted for Helping Illegal Alien Evade ICE Claims “Judicial Immunity”
“To those lionizing Judge Dugan, where do you draw the line in a judge allegedly assisting a person to evade arrest? Could she order officers to hide him or remove him in her car trunk?”
We have been diligently following the case of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested and then indicted for allegedly helping an illegal alien escape from ICE, which, by the way, if true, is a federal crime:
- FBI Arrests Milwaukee Judge for Allegedly Obstructing Immigration Arrest
- Democrats Burn Their ‘No One Is Above the Law’ Card in Response to Wisconsin Judge’s Arrest
- Second Wisconsin Judge Goes Full Resistance After Arrest of Judge Accused of ICE Obstruction
- Some of Trump’s Fiercest Critics Agree That WI Judge’s Arrest was Warranted
- Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge Who Allegedly Helped Illegal Try To Evade ICE
Judge Dugan was indicted for potentially committing the following federal crimes.
The first, 18 U.S.C. § 1071 – Concealing person from arrest, states: “Whoever harbors or conceals any person for whose arrest a warrant or process has been issued under the provisions of any law of the United States, so as to prevent his discovery and arrest, after notice or knowledge of the fact that a warrant or process has been issued for the apprehension of such person, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; except that if the warrant or process issued on a charge of felony, or after conviction of such person of any offense, the punishment shall be a fine under this title, or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.”
The second, 18 U.S.C. § 1505 – Obstruction of Proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees, states: “Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States…Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”
Here she is leaving the federal courthouse after her initial appearance on federal criminal charges:
New video from our crews: Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan and her attorney leaving the federal courthouse in Milwaukee and not commenting. The FBI arrested her at the MKE Co Courthouse this morning. She's charged with 2 felonies for obstructing an ICE arrest last week pic.twitter.com/3YtgsNHTJl
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) April 25, 2025
The facts as they have been reported seem to show that Dugan did indeed attempt to help an illegal alien evade arrest by ICE, and did corruptly obstruct the arrest of the illegal alien which was being carried out through “the due and proper administration of the law.” But maybe the reporting is wrong? Or not.
Since I was a career law clerk for a federal district court judge for 2 1/2 years and handled dozens, if not hundreds, of federal criminal cases, I thought I would take a peek at the criminal docket in Dugan’s case and see if there was anything interesting or noteworthy.
Is there ever!
First, there is an interesting document Dugan filed called her “DISCLOSURE STATEMENT,” and in it, she discloses that FOUR, yes, count’em, FOUR law firms are “appearing, expected to appear, or who may appear” to represent Dugan during her criminal proceedings. That is a new one on me — never seen a federal criminal defendant represented by four law firms. Wow!
You can review Dugan’s Disclosure Statement here.
In case you are interested, the four law firms representing Dugan are Steven Biskupic Law Office LLC of Thiensville, Wisconsin, Clement & Murphy, PLLC of Washington, D.C., Strang Bradley, LLC of Madison, Wisconsin, and Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And, after filing that, Dugan’s defense team filed SEVEN, yes SEVEN official Notices of Attorney Appearance, three of whom are named partners in the above four law firms.
Yes, you heard that right — Dugan is being represented by SEVEN lawyers.
You can review the docket here if you’d like. I’ve never seen anything like that before either. Most federal criminal defendants make use of the federal public defenders office and get one grossly overworked and underpaid attorney to represent them.
Another interesting item is the Court’s “Order Setting Conditions of Release,” which you can review here. The interesting thing about this document is that other than the “form” conditions of release (i.e. don’t commit any other crimes, cooperate in the collection of a DNA sample, etc.), there are no other conditions of release specified — NONE. I’ve never seen that either — usually the judge puts some other conditions down — where the federally indicted defendant will be staying while on release, where they are allowed to go, what they can or must do, etc. And that’s if the defendant is even released at all in the first place! Here — NOTHING! Not sure what that means, but I hope it doesn’t mean anything.
Finally, we have Dugan’s Motion to Dismiss the case, which you can review here.
I am not going to dissect the Motion to Dismiss, except to note that it is signed by six lawyers from three law firms and was filed ONE DAY after Dugan was indicted. How seven lawyers drafted, reviewed, got Dugan’s review done, and filed this thing in one day is something I cannot conceive of, but all I can say is that it is noteworthy.
And you will see upon review that the gist of the Motion to Dismiss is that “the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts.”
Further: “Even if…Judge Dugan took the actions the complaint alleges, these plainly were judicial acts for which she has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. Judges are empowered to maintain control over their courtrooms specifically and the courthouse generally.”
So helping an illegal alien escape from ICE is “maintain[ing] control over [her] courtroom” — okay.
Here is what the esteemed Jonathan Turley thinks of this argument:
Disgraced Judge Hannah Dugan filed a motion to dismiss today, on grounds of Judicial immunity
Jonathan Turley~
I can't see any basis to do that, which means her motion to dismiss will be deniedJudge Dugan faces (6) years in prison, who else besides me hopes she gets the max pic.twitter.com/uBxyfrjYLx
— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) May 14, 2025
More on Turley’s reasoning:
To those lionizing Judge Dugan, where do you draw the line in a judge allegedly assisting a person to evade arrest? Could she order officers to hide him or remove him in her car trunk? Once you get down from the bench, you can quickly find yourself on a slippery slope…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 28, 2025
Some other X commentary:
The motion to dismiss filed today by Judge Dugan's attorney in Wisconsin is so stupid it is funny.
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) May 16, 2025
⚖️(OPINION) Judge Hannah Dugan’s defense in her motion to dismiss is one that any rational person would, or should, find very difficult to believe.
She argues that her action, in helping an illegal in in courtroom, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, leave her courtroom through a jury door to… https://t.co/oZQz6eldM6
— Steve McRae 😈A-Holy Pope of Agnosticism😇 (@SteveMcRae_) May 16, 2025
A few points on the Judge Duggan's motion to dismiss.
1. In making the motion, she's not admitting anything. She's saying that the court ought not even consider the merits of the allegations against her. This is not unusual.
— Rick Esenberg (@RickEsenberg) May 15, 2025
We will update this post once the court rules on Dugan’s Motion to Dismiss.
As of now, her trial date is set for July 22, 2025, but that will almost certainly NOT be when the trial happens, as there is evidence to gather, transmit to the other side, review, the Motion to Dismiss to rule on, etc., etc., but it could happen later this year or early in 2026. We will keep you posted.
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Comments
Check under her robe – there’s room for 2 or 3 more.
She let Comey through with a bag of shells.
No one is above the law. I’ve heard this from democrats since forever. Perhaps they could rework it to:
No republican is above the law,
Someone is paying big bucks for her defense or these firms are looking to curry favor. I doubt she has the money to afford them.
The bad news is the presiding judge is a democrat who served 2o years in
the Wisconsin senate as a democrat. His name is Lynn Steven Adelman.
As democrats protect their own this case is unfortunately going nowhere,
One thing we’ve learned from the Dims is that the process is the punishment. Grind her to dust under the slow turning wheels of justice. Bankrupt her.
Not just any D. Adelman may be the leftiest judge in the country.
This will be interesting. Dugan is slam-dunk guilty of egregious and willful violation of Federal Law, witnessed by the entire court.
I’d love to see this other Judge try to argue that she’s exempt from following the Law. I expect the standards of Ethics binding officers of the court precludes any such thing.
If not, she could simply execute a defended because “he needed kill’in.”
She doesn’t mean she has ‘judicial immunity’ as a judge. She means the righteous immunity that come from being a Democrat judge.
The court: You stand accused. How do you plead?
Dugan: Judicial immunity puts me above the law.
The court: !!
A**clowns like Dugan are why we can’t have nice things.
Option 1) Delay until this leaves the headlines. Plea deal with suspended sentence maybe lose law license for a year.
Option 2) They appeal everything all the way to the SC. She has unlimited funds. The trial is on hold until every motion goes through the time soaking appeal process. The appeals court lets her go back to work while trial is on hold as to not “damage her.” This too out runs the Trump presidency. <orphan
I am not a lawyer so I’ll ask a question of you:
If the motion to dismiss argues that federal law takes a back seat to “maintaining control over the courtroom” isn’t that an affirmative defense requiring the accused to shoulder the burden of proof?
I’d call that a pure issue of law, not fact, on which the movant has the burden of persuasion,
. . . . At least in the context of a pre trial motion.
I’d say that’s nonsense, as “keeping control of the courtroom” doesn’t give you license to ignore the law. A judge cannot order the bailiff to summarily execute someone in order to “maintain control”, nor can they ignore warrants issued by other courts or authorities. Judges do have a wide latitude of power in their courts, but it’s intended for use to expedite the application of the law fairly, not to shelter criminals.
We know that some entity, foreign or domestic, is paying big bucks to defend her. And/or those firms and any allied firms can expect preferential treatment in court from Judge Dugan and her political allies.
And if her claim of absolute immunity because she is a federal judge is upheld in any way, we may as well just give up on trials and on elections.
Subotai Bahadur
She is a Milwaukee county judge and not a federal judge,.
Even worse
npr outed one of their own in trying to defend this criminal dugan
npr has a story of a boston female judge who years back also helped an illegal escape through the back door
Judge Shelley Joseph
(also as another mis speak on their part the left has a problem with the fed trying to take over the state courts…ironic in that they are allll about the state/local courts stopping the Trump admin)
“I think that Joseph was the canary in the coalmine,” former federal judge Nancy Gertner tells NPR. It was an early sign of what she sees as a pattern of federal overreach that’s getting worse.
“This is a federal government that does not understand there really are two authorities: the state and the federal government,” Gertner says. “The federal government cannot intimidate or commandeer state proceedings to accomplish their will.
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/17/g-s1-67288/wisconsin-judge-hannah-dugan-immigrant-ice-case-boston-shelley-joseph
I remember this story, at the time that it occurred. Dhimmi-crat activist “judges” have been brazenly pulling lawless stunts like this for years, with impunity.
No, they have not. There was one case in MA, which turned out to be much less than met the eye, and now this case in WI. That’s it. Two cases in something like five years, and only one case that’s actually criminal. That’s not a crime wave.
Citing one case where there was not impunity means nothing. Fail.
There is no evidence of, or reason to suspect, that there have ever been any other cases at all. And this is not a crime that can easily be concealed.
Ridiculous. They didn’t “out” anyone. The Joseph case is extremely famous. I don’t believe there is anyone who heard of the Dugan case and didn’t immediately remember Joseph.
But the Joseph case fizzled because she didn’t know the ICE officers were looking for this person. That’s why the charges were dropped. That’s not the case with Dugan, who specifically knew that ICE intended to arrest the defendant in her court, and deliberately helped him escape. There’s no possible defense to that.
“the gist of the Motion to Dismiss is that “the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts.”
Yeah, won’t fly. Crazy white judge chick Dugan is in no better shape than crazy white judge chick Louise Goldston, who accompanied a team to perform a warrantless (and abusive) search at the home of a party to a divorce proceeding she was running. Her own judge found that what she had done was in no way part of the official duties of her office, She ended up resigning before being impeached. Another victory for freedom from judicial tyranny.
She’s guilty of treason. I can’t blame her for pulling out all the stops.
She will see what happens to wannabe tyrants. Especially the ones that foster chaos.
She’s guilty of a crime, but not treason. The constitution defines treason, and she doesn’t fit that definition.
She gave aid and comfort to an invader, sheltering him from lawful repatriation.
MA judge did much the same act or it was reported as such. Her life is in shambles.
It was reported as such at the time, but the reporting turned out to be inaccurate. The charges against her were properly dropped, but her judicial career was over.
From what does she derive immunity, her own judicial ruling, a statute?
Judicial immunity is real. Judges have absolute immunity for official acts as a judge. However, this was not an official act. It is no part of a judge’s function to help people escape arrest.
In addition,. I wonder whether state judges have immunity in federal court.
I often disagree with Mulhouse here, but I think that he hits it on the head here – we shouldn’t even get to Federal Supremacy here, because she only gets Judicial Immunity for official acts. Sending the federal fugitive out of her courtroom through the private and secure areas of the court, in order for him to avoid apprehension by federal authorities was not within her official duties.
Well-deserved. She should lose her law licence, too.
And I’m sure she will. That’s the least of what will happen to her.
Hey! Good post, Milhouse.
Nah. The state Bar will ignore her crime. She did it to further the cause of judicial tyranny, after all.
I honestly don’t see much to decide here. First issue is her claim of judicial immunity, if denied then there’s really only a few facts to iron out and to let that claim stand would be Cray Cray. If the warrant/process was valid and her actions are as described then she’s guilty. There seems to be eyewitness testimony confirming her actions and as long as Immigration crossed I and dotted t on the paperwork it is valid. Unless there’s some technical error on the paperwork she’s guilty of both counts, at best if the paperwork is jacked she’s maybe only guilty on the second count. IMO she’s swinging for the fence on the judicial immunity assertion b/c that is all.she’s got until sentencing where she argues all sorts of.sob story crap to mitigate the.severity.
Federal “paperwork issues” aren’t in her purview. She’s not even in the line of appeals for federal matters. She decided to carry out her own personal insurrection by acting as if the federal government has no authority in her court house.
In her motion to dismiss she and her lawyers lied to the district court…
The federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty on April 18 when it disrupted Judge Dugan’s courtroom,
The ICE agents disrupted nothing and never entered her courtroom. They were waiting in a public space for her to finish her Flores-Ruiz hearing (which she never started).
It was Dugan who disrupted her court by shutting down her proceedings and leaving her courtroom to yell at the agents.
Further, but Dugan is attempting to deceive the district court by misstating and omitting “pertinent” facts.
What is missing from this part of Dugan’s motion?…
2. The complaint alleges a more cohesive story. In pertinent part, it alleges thefollowing. On Good Friday, April 18, 2025, Judge Dugan was presiding over hermisdemeanor docket in the Milwaukee County Courthouse. ECF 1, ¶15. Among themany defendants with hearings that day was Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. Id., ¶22. Federalagents arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to execute an administrative arrestwarrant for Flores-Ruiz. Id., ¶8. A deputy in Judge Dugan’s courtroom claimed that JudgeDugan directed Flores-Ruiz to leave her courtroom through a jury door. Id., ¶29. Flores-Ruiz emerged from a doorway into the same public hallway a few feet from JudgeDugan’s courtroom doors. Id., ¶33. Federal law enforcement saw him, followed him tothe elevator, continued to follow Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse, and then arrested himafter a foot chase. Id., ¶¶33–34.
Gosh. No mention of her stopping her own court proceedings and leaving her courtroom.
In fact, nowhere in her motion to dismiss is it mentioned she actually shut down proceedings and left her own courtroom. Instead they try to side step by only noting, The alleged conduct ranges from directing people’s movement in and around the courtroom…
So where WAS that foxy little tugboat when the Mexican sailing vessel needed her?