Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends judge accused of aiding man avoid immigration authorities

Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends judge accused of aiding man avoid immigration authorities

MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a judge charged with two federal counts on allegations of trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, was charged April 25 with two federal counts of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. She is accused of trying to help Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, avoid arrest by federal immigration officials after he appeared in her courtroom at the Milwaukee County Courthouse for a pretrial conference on April 18.

Under the Supreme Court's order, Dugan is not allowed to carry out her responsibilities as a Milwaukee County judge beginning April 29 "until further order of the court." Dugan will continue to be paid her $174,512 annual salary while on administrative leave.

Court officials emphasized that this is not a disciplinary action but an administrative one

"In the exercise of that constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public confidence in the court of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceeding against Judge Dugan, we conclude on our own motion that it is the public interest that she be temporarily be relieved of her official duty," said the two-paragraph order April 29 from the state Supreme Court.

Attorneys for Dugan issued a statement criticizing

.We are disappointed that the Court acted in unilateral fashion," the Dugan legal team said. "We continue to assert Judge Dugan’s innocence and look forward to her vindication in court."

The order comes after Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley said hearings on Dugan’s calendar would be handled by a reserve judge. Ashley also said Milwaukee County judges were concerned with how Dugan was arrested.

Who is Hannah Dugan? The Wisconsin judge arrested by FBI amid ICE investigation

Judge Hannah Dugan accused of helping man evade arrest

According to the criminal complaint, Dugan is accused of escorting Flores-Ruiz and his public defender out of her courtroom through a side door after learning that immigration authorities were in the hallway seeking his arrest. Federal agents eventually arrested Flores-Ruiz after a short foot chase outside the courthouse.

A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan at the courthouse, according to witnesses and federal officials. She made a brief appearance in federal court in Milwaukee later on April 25 before being released from custody.

The two charges — a felony and the other a misdemeanor — carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine, though sentences in cases involving nonviolent offenses are typically much shorter.

This arrest marked at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse with arrest warrants as part of a national crackdown on illegal immigration under the Trump Administration. In March and early April, two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse.

Dugan's arrest sparked protests across Milwaukee, including outside of the federal courthouse the day of her pretrial conference on April 25. Protests continued over the weekend, with a crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the FBI Field Office in St. Francis on April 28.