Following the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, who has been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding after she helped an illegal immigrant escape federal officials, she would be “temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge” until her case proceeds through the legal system, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled.
“I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan — a county judge in Milwaukee — for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X last Friday. “No one is above the law.”
According to AP, Dugan’s attorney said, “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”
Her arrest led to a confrontation between state judicial authority and federal immigration enforcement.
“The court has learned that Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan has been charged with two federal criminal offenses, one of which is a felony and one of which is a misdemeanor,” a two-page order from the court filed Tuesday stated.
“This court is charged in the Wisconsin Constitution with exercising superintending and administrative authority over the courts of this state. In the exercise of that constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public’s confidence in the courts of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceeding against Judge Dugan, we conclude, on our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Judge Dugan’s cases will be redistributed among other judges in Milwaukee’s already-overloaded court system.
Further, legal experts argue that the Supreme Court’s swift ruling of removing Judge Dugan from official duties highlights the seriousness with which the judiciary takes claims of a judge deliberately impeding federal law enforcement.
“When a judge faces criminal charges related to their official duties, it creates an extraordinary situation that demands immediate administrative action,” explained James Friedman, a professor of judicial ethics at Marquette University Law School. “The suspension doesn’t presume guilt, but it acknowledges that the integrity of the judicial process would be compromised if a judge under such serious allegations continued to preside over cases while simultaneously defending themselves against criminal charges.”
If convicted, Judge Dugan could face up to six years in prison.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 15.
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