Wisconsin Supreme Court suspends Judge Hannah Dugan after federal charges
By: Daniel Bice and Vanessa Swales Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan because she was charged with two federal counts on allegations of trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom.
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 relieved of her official duties,” said the two-paragraph order April 29 from the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Dugan issued a statement criticizing the court’s action.
“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.”
Dugan 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.
The two charges — one a felony and the other a misdemeanor — carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine, but sentences in cases involving nonviolent offenses typically are much shorter.
Dugan’s case will soon go before a federal grand jury.
The acting U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Eastern District will present evidence to the panel to determine whether there is “probable cause” to believe a crime has been committed by Dugan.
The Supreme Court order comes one day 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 the manner in which Dugan was arrested.
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.
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 more than 200 people gathering outside the FBI Field Office in St. Francis on April 28.
Politicians have split along ideological lines, with Republicans talking about removing Dugan from office and Democrats decrying the arrests in the courthouse.
Trump administration officials were quick to praise Milwaukee-based federal agents for arresting Dugan on the two federal charges. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced Dugan’s arrest in posts on X.
Federal officials used biometric fingerprint comparisons to see that Flores-Ruiz, who was set to appear before Dugan on April 18, had been deported from the United States in 2013. ICE officials obtained an arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz on April 17.
Flores-Ruiz, 30, was charged with three misdemeanor counts of domestic battery. He could face up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 on each of the charges.
On April 18, six members of the Milwaukee ICE task force dressed in plain clothes and went to the county courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz about 8 a.m., the complaint says. They then informed the bailiff in Dugan’s courtroom that they were planning the arrest, agreeing to wait to do so until after his court appearance.
A clerk notified Dugan that it appeared ICE agents were waiting in the hallway outside her courtroom.
A DEA agent then saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney get on an elevator, and he got on it with them, notifying others on the arrest team what was happening. Flores-Ruiz got off the elevator and was confronted by two agents outside the courthouse.
“A foot chase ensued,” the complaint says. “The agents pursued Flores-Ruiz for the entire length of the courthouse and ultimately apprehended him near the intersection of W. State Street and 10th Street. Flores-Ruiz was handcuffed and detained.”
Records show Flores-Ruiz was charged April 24 by federal authorities with illegal re-entry into the United States.
Flores-Ruiz is in federal custody at the Ozaukee County Jail, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Flores-Ruiz was initially detained at the Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau and was later booked into the Ozaukee facility in Port Washington on April 24.
Dugan’s case has drawn parallels with Massachusetts state District Court Judge Shelley Joseph, who also was suspended in April 2019 after being indicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice. Joseph allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade ICE agents. In 2022, federal prosecutors dropped the charges against her and she was reinstated a year later.
About Post Author
