We have been closely monitoring the federal criminal case out of Wisconsin concerning Wisconsin state judge Hannah Dugan (pictured above), who allegedly helped an illegal alien flee ICE arrest by letting him exit her courthouse out a private back door normally inaccessible to the public:
This case is extremely important because it would cause havoc if state (or federal) judges could freely violate federal law and thwart valid prosecution of criminal illegal aliens, many of whom appear before such judges all the time and many of whom have been charged, as in this case, with very serious crimes.
Following Judge Dugan’s arrest, she was indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony charges: 18 U.S. Code § 1071 – Concealing person from arrest and 18 U.S. Code § 1505 – Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees, as Professor Jacobson explained:
The case was assigned to federal district court judge Lynn Adelman in the federal Eastern District of Wisconsin, who apparently has a history of making statements that would seem to be of assistance to Judge Dugan: Clinton-Appointed Judge Selected for Hannah Dugan’s Trial Has History of Liberal Bias
Judge Dugan’s massive legal team (of course) moved to dismiss the indictment against her, citing judicial immunity to criminal prosecution, among other grounds, Wisconsin Judge Indicted for Helping Illegal Alien Evade ICE Claims “Judicial Immunity,” but legal commentators were less than impressed by Judge Dugan’s motion papers:
More of Jonathan Turley’s reasoning:
A former 22-year federal prosecutor had a hot take:
The basic reasoning for this is that almost all of the cases Judge Dugan cited in her motion to dismiss involved judges being immune from CIVIL liability, i.e., having to pay damages for civil offenses, not for criminal liability (i.e. jail) for committing outright crimes.
Of course, that didn’t stop a bunch of other (now-retired) judges from coming to Judge Dugan’s defense: Wisconsin Judge, Indicted for Helping Illegal Alien Evade ICE, Gets Support from 138 Retired Judges. As I mentioned in that post, however, only seven of those judges were actually federal district court judges, the others being state judges (mostly) who would necessarily have much less knowledge of the relevant federal legal issues.
As an aside, a helpful (and short 1 minute+) video that explains what happened with Judge Dugan on the day in question was released, and you can review it here to see what actually happened:
Of course we were all wondering what would happen with Judge Dugan’s Motion to Dismiss, and now a federal magistrate judge who is helping Judge Adelman on this case has recommended to Judge Adelman that Judge Dugan’s Motion to Dismiss be DENIED:
From Breitbart News: U.S. Magistrate Says Case Can Proceed Against Wisconsin Judge Accused of Aiding Illegal Migrant:
A U.S. magistrate judge said a case can proceed against a Wisconsin judge accused of aiding an illegal migrant in evading arrest…Dugan pleaded not guilty to federal charges, arguing that she “is immune from prosecution for actions taken in her official capacity in and around her courtroom,” per the Washington Post.“In a nonbinding recommendation issued Monday, however, Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph recommended against dismissing the charges against Dugan, writing that ‘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,’” noted the WaPo.
“Joseph went on to say that questions of whether Dugan broke the law or was ‘merely performing her judicial duties,’ as well as the fact that the two sides dispute the facts of the case, are issues that cannot be resolved within a motion to dismiss,” it added.
For those who would like more of the details on why the Motion to Dismiss is recommended for denial (which is now up to Judge Adelman for final decision), see this excellent 28-minute video with all the gory details:
Let’s hope Judge Adelman does the right this and accepts the recommendation to deny Judge Dugan’s Motion to Dismiss.
From X:
Here is that well-reasoned opinion:
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