Wisconsin Judge, Indicted for Helping Illegal Alien Evade ICE, Gets Support from 138 Retired Judges
“So 130 judges are trying to tell the American people that judges are above the law? This is yet another example of how out of touch our legal systems have become. I’m mind blown by the audacity of these judges.”

We have been closely following the case of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested and then indicted for allegedly helping an illegal alien escape from ICE (most recent post listed first):
- Clinton-Appointed Judge Selected for Hannah Dugan’s Trial Has History of Liberal Bias
- Wisconsin Judge Indicted for Helping Illegal Alien Evade ICE Claims “Judicial Immunity”
- 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
As I reported on May 17, Judge Dugan’s defense team (of seven lawyers (see disclosure statement here)) filed a motion to dismiss the case, available here, arguing that Dugan’s actions in potentially committing two federal crimes were privileged by the doctrine of “judicial immunity,” meaning that because these were official acts (i.e. controlling her courtroom), she was immune from prosecution.
Legal experts seemed skeptical, as I reported, with Jonathan Turley and others on X looking askance at Dugan’s motion to dismiss:
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
A former 22-year federal prosecutor also agreed the motion to dismiss was shaky at best:
The motion to dismiss filed today by Judge Dugan's attorney in Wisconsin is so stupid it is funny.
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) May 16, 2025
Others weighed in as well, as a quick search of X for “Dugan” reveals. And the court has yet to rule on Dugan’s motion to dismiss.
But there have also been three recent developments of note that bear reporting:
First, 15 days after filing her motion to dismiss, Dugan, on May 29, filed a “Memorandum Supporting Motion to Dismiss,” which you can review here.
I leave it to the aforementioned 22-year federal prosecutor to address this “Memorandum” (summary after the X post):
You might recall that the same day Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted her attorneys filed a quite amateurish motion to dismiss that repeatedly claimed there was absolute judicial immunity from criminal prosecution.
Dugan was indicted for having helped an illegal…
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) May 30, 2025
Summarizing:
Yesterday her attorneys filed another motion, stating that it is meant to “explain” the issues raised in the earlier motion.
My view is that some attorney with a little bit of talent and experience looked at what was filed a couple of weeks ago and said “Yeah, this won’t cut it.”
What was filed yesterday is much longer. And it goes into much more history and detail on the question of judicial immunity, making the same sweeping claims of absolute immunity even from federal criminal charges.
But, like the earlier motion, the newly gussied up version is lacking a key element … A citation to a single case that says state court judges have immunity from criminal prosecution when their conduct violates federal criminal statutes that apply to everyone else.
[emphasis added]
Other commentators are equally unimpressed:
Dugan shepherding a defendant out of her courtroom to avoid arrest and deny justice to the victim in the case before Dugan is not protected under judicial immunity. https://t.co/mBwSYiXgZk
— Uncle Speed (@dubiety1951) May 31, 2025
I would add that the most compelling argument to me is simply that misdirecting federal ICE agents and shepherding an illegal toward an exit is not an “official act” that judicial immunity might cover.
In addition, the filing of this “Memorandum” violates the Eastern District of Wisconsin federal court’s official “Local Rules of Criminal Procedure.” If you review those, available here, you will see that Local Criminal Rule 12(b)(1) was violated when Dugan filed her motion to dismiss.
That rule states that “Every motion must state the statute or rule pursuant to which it is made and must be accompanied by a supporting memorandum and, when necessary, affidavits or other documents; or a certificate of counsel stating that no brief or other supporting documents will be filed.” [emphasis added]
Obviously when Dugan’s motion to dismiss was filed it was not “accompanied by a supporting memorandum,” which ended up being filed 15 days after the fact, nor did Dugan file “a certificate of counsel stating that no brief or other supporting documents will be filed.” So there’s that.
Second, a new video has been released by the local sheriff’s office allegedly showing how Judge Dugan helped the illegal alien escape from ICE.
Conservative Brief reports: Video Shows Milwaukee Judge Interacting With ICE Agents Before Migrant Arrest:
A newly released video shows Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan speaking with federal agents outside her courtroom as they waited to arrest an illegal immigrant to finish his court appearance.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz appeared in court on April 18, facing battery and domestic abuse charges related to a dispute with his roommates, according to a criminal complaint. That incident brought him to the attention of federal authorities, who subsequently discovered he was in the country without legal documentation, WTMJ-TV reported.
Flores-Ruiz was taken into custody by federal agents shortly after exiting the courtroom. Prosecutors allege that Dugan aided his attempt to evade arrest by helping him leave the courthouse through a restricted exit normally reserved for jurors and by distracting the agents.
They further claim she redirected the agents to speak with the chief judge, allowing Flores-Ruiz time to slip away…
Additional footage shows Flores-Ruiz entering an elevator and exiting the courthouse, followed by a federal agent. Outside, surveillance video captures [Flores-Ruiz] running before agents ultimately apprehended [Flores-Ruiz] on 10th Street, the outlet notes.
Federal agents arrested Dugan at the courthouse one week later and charged [Dugan] with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstructing justice.
You can watch the video here (click on the video):
Here's footage of Judge Hannah Dugan sneaking an illegal immigrant out of the building. Absolutely unreal. pic.twitter.com/4Cb4lPSToB
— aka (@akafaceUS) May 26, 2025
Conservative Brief continues:
Last month, following Dugan’s arrest, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an administrative order directing her to be “temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
The order says that Dugan “is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the State of Wisconsin.”
The state Supreme Court said that the ruling would be in force “until further order of the court.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted Dugan’s actions on Fox’s “America Reports.”
“We could not believe that a judge really did that,” Bondi said. “You cannot obstruct a criminal case. And really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases, and she’s protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.”
Bondi said Flores-Ruiz beat up two people, “a guy and a girl.”
“[He] beat the guy, hit the guy 30 times, knocked him to the ground, choked him, beat up a woman so badly; they both had to go to the hospital,” she said.
Third: Well, that did not stop 138 former federal and state judges from moving to file an amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court, brief in Dugan’s case, arguing that she should indeed get judicial immunity. You can review that brief here, but first, a couple comments:
Although the amici’s “disclosure statement,” available here, does indeed list 138 judges who are the amici on the brief, only seven (7) of the listed judges are actual Article III federal judges, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are imbued with life tenure, and who cannot be fired (only impeached by Congress). Those judges are:
- Judge Nancy Gertner, U.S. District Judge, District of Massachusetts (Ret.)
- Judge Michael Luttig, U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Ret.)
- Judge Mark W. Bennett, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Iowa (Ret.)
- Judge Thelton Henderson, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of California (Ret.)
- Judge Lowell Jensen, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of California (Ret.)
- Judge Fern M. Smith, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of California (Ret.)
- Judge T. John Ward, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Ret.)
This is not to belittle state court judges, who have a key role to play in our complex system of federalism, nor the federal magistrate or bankruptcy judges, who also have key roles to play federally, but they are not at the same level as Article III federal District or Appellate Circuit Judges.
But to me this indicates that this amicus brief is of somewhat limited value (in light of “138 judges” in support), especially as concerns complex questions of federal judicial immunity for official acts.
X commentators agree:
51 former intel officials claimed the Hunter Laptop was Russian Disinformation.
90 law professors at Harvard Law School explain the lawlessness of the Trump Admin.
138 retired judges file a brief demanding Judge Hannah Dugan’s charges be dropped.
Same Leftists. Same Scams. pic.twitter.com/fLgs4rvUpf
— C3 (@C_3C_3) May 31, 2025
The judiciary arrogantly believes that they are above the law. Their attitude is that in a courtroom the law applies to us peons and not to them. They forget they are public servants, not gods. They work for us. People forget that about a judge.https://t.co/GknZvcMN7i
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) May 31, 2025
So 130 judges are trying to tell the American people that judges are above the law? This is yet another example of how out of touch our legal systems have become. I’m mind blown by the audacity of these judges. WTH
— Angella M (@AngellaMShelto1) May 31, 2025
WOW: 130 *retired* judges file a brief demanding Judge Hannah Dugan’s charges be dropped—after she was caught aiding & abetting an illegal alien
They say she has “absolute immunity for her official acts”
Abusing your position to help commit crimes is an “official act”? 🤡 pic.twitter.com/HRyfOpR886
— John Strand (@JohnStrandUSA) May 31, 2025
We will certainly keep you posted as this case winds its way through the federal criminal system.

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Comments
Andrew Branca did a video on this and he pointed out that every single citation concerning judicial immunity involved civil actions, not criminal actions. Although I am confident the judge overseeing this case will magically find immunity from criminal prosecution as well.
He made a rich target list…
For example, Norman L Eisen’s filings and arguments certainly put toes on the line if not blatantly exceeding numerous Rules of professional Conduct and he ought to be disciplined.
Additionally the quantity and contents of his exponential filings suggest he does not possess the personality characteristic required to be admitted to the bar
What if (After viewing Andrew’s LOSD video) filed amicus and bar complaints?????
https://clip.cafe/shooter-2007/for-the-record-i-dont-like-the-way-turned-out-any-more-than-do/
Corrupt and lawless Dhimmi-crat activist “judges” of a feather, stick together.
Maybe they will write her in prison.
What Blubber-Butt Dugan really needs is support from Weight Watchers.
Your bad 🙂
What she needed was those who claimed to care about her and ‘watched her weight’ expand to gross proportions and obesity to tell her the truth, not lie to her with ‘beautiful at any size’. She’s not just fat she is obese and that is an indicator of lack of personal discipline. About 98%+ of those obese don’t have a glandular problem or other issue contributing to obesity …other than failure to create a caloric deficit by poor dietary and exercise habits.
“She’s not just fat she is obese and that is an indicator of lack of personal discipline.
I was concerned that this was going to be an ad hominem attack on her for being
fatobese…. but instead it’s an attack on her character.What’s on the inside of a person is generally reflected in their outward appearance.
More of an observation that her gross obesity serves to reveal her lack of character/discipline. Everyone has control of the calories they ingest and the amount of calories they burn through exercise. A.very few people face additional hurdles with gland issues and all of us do when our metabolism slows as we age but those hurdles only reinforce the need for strict personal discipline to prevent becoming obese.
Sorry, but I must disagree. Different people have different metabolisms. Some can gain weight on 1,500 calories per day.
Gibbie
What do you disagree with and why fixate on 1,500 calories? Creating a caloric deficit is proven to lose weight. Burn more calories than one consumes and there’s no excess calories to be stored as fat.
I stated that:
1. Everyone has control of the amount of calories they ingest
2. Everyone has control of the amount of calories they burn during exercise
I then acknowledge that some have more resistance to weight loss due to their glandular issues but most face hurdles due to lower metabolism. Do you disagree with those statements?
Stop making excuses for folks who are not serious enough about losing weight to commit to the discipline of diet/exercise. If someone can’t lose weight on a 1500 calorie diet. I would ask what those calories are composed of. Probably ’empty/bad’ calories high in processed sugar or carbs. In any event if one is consuming 1500 calories and still not losing weight the answer is clearly that they are not burning 1500 calories off with daily activities. That person should commit to the discipline of daily exercise to burn off 3K or more calories. Burning 2x as many calories as consumed will result in weight loss for the obese. No excuses.
I agree in most cases, but there are exceptions.
I thought she was Jabba the Hutt’s sister.
After watching the video several times, it’s clear that the federal agents gave the judge way too much deference from the very beginning. What they were doing there was absolutely NONE of her business and that’s what they should have told her…and then arrested her on the spot if she continued to interfere.
LOSD Andrew Branca:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo3veUPvaJA&ab_channel=LawofSelfDefense
Thanks for posting this. Excellent (and funny) analysis by Andrew Branca.
I said in a comment on the May 14 post that:
“Having read the affidavit of the federal officer involved, and having it corroborated by every witness there, a conviction SHOULD be a slam-dunk. But of course her fellow collectivist judge(s) will probably decide to give her a pass. With a federal jury trial in that area her defense attorneys will almost certainly be able to find a witless idiot to put on the jury to hang it from conviction.”
Sometimes it sucks to be correct.
I will believe that we do not have a two- or three-tier legal system (it is certainly not a JUSTICE system) when I see these obvious criminals serving prison time. The Dem-wing has carefully carved out a legal system that is more like a “Just Us” system
You are absolutely correct. A hung jury is a certain guarantee given the jurisdiction.
There is one thing about official acts that make it a serious crime and that is the authority attached to the person. If a police officer wanted to rob you, he could turn on his lights and siren and pull you over. An Official Act. However, you would ignore a normal citizen who wanted to pull you over.
The fact that ICE agents were interacting with the judge means they took her authority for granted, which made her illicit act easier to accomplish — just like the police officer who pulls you over.
As such, more jail time is appropriate in both cases.
??
its an official act to lie/deceive the people? in this case federal agents
ahaaaaaaaa
Four years of Biden and eight years of Zero should clue you in to that.
Are the 51 security experts signatories?
Just asking for a friend
“This just in: retired judges nearly 300% more traitorous than retired spooks.”
She looks like a bouncer for a lesbian brothel.
So according to Judge Dugan and her judicial supporters, a judge who accepts a cash bribe from a litigant is immune from prosecution for accepting a bribe, since “deciding cases” is part of her official duties?
The way I see it according to Dugan and her supporters anything they do in their courtroom and/or court building, whether in session or not, is an “official act of the court” and therefore beyond and above the law and they cannot be held accountable for their illegal acts and actions (eg. assisting an illegal evade ICE enforcement in violation of federal law.).
If that’s their theory, they’re saying they could murder a witness in front of a courtroom full of people and could not be punished.
Well, we all know whose opinions to go over with a fine toothed comb now, don’t we?
Even if she wanted to stand on the shifting sands of an act being “official” if it’s conducted in her court room, she lost that protection when she stepped outside of the room into the corridor in an attempt to interfere with the agents there. At that point, robe or none, she became just another citizen.
.
And she wasn’t acting on an issue brought before her. The illegal’s immigration status is not part of the jurisdiction of her court.
And if she’s permitted to stay on the bench, why should any law enforcement enforce her court orders, given her contempt for those of other courts?
Let’s go to an unimpeachable source, the US Constitution’s Article VI:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Because of this, the only way for Duggan to dodge being “bound” by the laws of the United States is to claim she wasn’t acting in her official capacity. You can see the problem with that.
A careful reading shows there is no distinction called out on whether judges are acting in an official capacity or not. Therefore they are always bound to the law, without exception. The Constitution itself does not claim official acts have immunity. That immunity is (AFAIK) is from various cases heard by the USSC. but it is not in the Constitution. To me that means even immunity from actions arising in civil complaints is not always absolute.
I am not sure but say (for the sake of argument) it was decided Dugan was acting in an official capacity; could not the government counter she was acting in bad faith and knew she was breaking the law? Would that not mean she was partially motivated by her confidence she was immune from prosecution? I’d argue that motive made claims of immunity invalid. JMHO.
PS. If the immunity that is generally granted is to protect judges who acted in an official capacity from being civilly sued why should it be assumed that makes them immune from prosecution by government authorities who can show cause to bring action?
Immunity is not to protect the judge from lawful actions but so they can do their proper jobs without fear of personal and professional losses brought through grievances by parties before them.
Impeachment is not the only way a judge can be removed.
For one brief glorious second, I thought it said ‘retarded judges’.
Well, some things don’t really need to be said, do they?
Yes actually they do.
Beat me to it! I was going to say the 138 judges were retarded,
Put her away…on bread and water. Consider parole once she loses 100 pounds (it will take years). Justice!
“So 130 judges are trying to tell the American people that judges are above the law? This is yet another example of how out of touch our legal systems have become. I’m mind blown by the audacity of these judges.”
I went to junior high and high school with a future federal judge. He was a stuck-up horse’s ass in school, and judging by his interactions with others at our reunions over the years, remains a horse’s ass.
That picture of her with Lincoln — he does NOT look impressed with her.
That took a lot of chutzpah for her to pose alongside Honest Abe.
138 Cultural Marxists Judges just ousted themselves.
Anything less than a full conviction and maximum prison term and applicable fines is a gross miscarriage of Justice. If they wanna let her out on parole after serving 60%+ of the max sentence then given her age I could be convinced of that if she is fully remorseful, doesn’t pen lefty diatribes from prison and in essence goes to prison nice and quiet, stays that way as model prisoner without seeking any special treatment. Otherwise she die and rot in prison.
138 fellow ends-justify-the-means sh*tlibs, in other words…like this deranged, gun-wielding cat lady taking her psychosis out on a Tesla over the weekend:
https://x.com/LangmanVince/status/1928975015396917571
So I guess these judges really think they are above the law
I think it is funny she pretends she has commonality with Honest Abe judging by the photo. Also if you like Lincoln why have a poorly made bust of him. I looks like the sculptor used chewed bubble gum as the medium.
It was shiny chrome when she first installed it in her courtroom of corruption.
The abuse by this judge and the degree of support she has received from other judges makes me wonder how many other offenses judges have and are committing over the years but were never charged.
If we knew the full extent, it’d be tar and feather time.
That would take a lot of tar and feathers.
Birds of a feather tared together.
We could switch to radial tars.
and lets be clear
while we want her disbarred
we do not want her
disrobed
I don’t get the video. She paraded him back and forth in front of the Federal agents. What were they waiting for? Did she tell them the court session was still on going? Don’t the Federal agents know that the hallway is public and they could have told her to pound sand when she told them to leave then arrested him?
I know judicial conduct standards vary from state to state, however one thing I do believe they all have in common is phrasing to the extent that “even the appearance of impropriety IS impropriety”, or similar. Don’t know what Wisconsin’s rules are. In Texas, the Rangers (state agency which usually deals with public officials misbehaving) would have made that perfectly clear to her, as would the Supreme Court of Texas.
Ok, let’s break this down. 138 retired judges
How many of these are not criminal judges, but handling only civil suits or other non-criminal cases.
How many of these are not judges at all, but bogus number-fluffing.
Now, take a good investigative journalist team (if you can find one) and go do an interview of several of the bigger names, like Luttig (the only name I recognized) Show video. Ask “How can this action be considered to be core judicial conduct?” Repeat for each video. Now pick another several of the signers. Interview them with the same process. See how many double back with “I didn’t realize that” or “I really did not know the facts of the case before I signed.”
I’d bet cash money the list could be pared down to half.
These 130+ Judges supporting Dugan need to be impeached and removed as it is clear no one is above the law. We were told this repeatedly when Trump was having Lawfare used against him after he announced for President in 2024.
The American legal system gets its legitimacy under our Social Contract largely because it is assumed that Justices/Judges are operating in a non-criminal manner under the law.
Reference is made to the first 4 sentences of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. The glue that binds us together is getting weaker.
Subotai Bahadur
We just admitted tens of millions of people with no glue whatsoever.
“Federal agents arrested Dugan at the courthouse one week later and charged him with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstructing justice.” So Dugan is a dude?
Thanks for pointing that out. I have made a change to the article to make it clear(er).
The number 130 shows how deep the rot has and continues to be in our joke of a judicial system.