A Troubling Case Against a Wisconsin Judge
/On May 15, 2025, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan pleaded not guilty to federal charges of obstructing immigration enforcement. Prosecutors allege that she helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a man reportedly in the country without legal status, leave the courthouse through a nonpublic exit to avoid arrest by ICE agents. The battery case against Flores-Ruiz had just been dismissed. Now, based on minimal evidence—including vague security footage and a court deputy’s account—Judge Dugan faces a criminal trial.
Her legal team has moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that she acted within her lawful discretion as a judge and is immune from prosecution. The case raises significant concerns about federal overreach and the politicization of immigration enforcement. It is virtually unprecedented to prosecute a sitting judge for a split-second decision made within the courthouse, and many see this as an attempt to intimidate the judiciary.
Beyond the courtroom, this indictment sends a chilling message: that federal prosecutors may criminally charge state judges whose actions—however legal—conflict with ICE’s objectives. Whether or not one agrees with Judge Dugan’s conduct, the prosecution threatens to erode judicial independence and weaponize immigration enforcement in ways that undermine basic principles of due process and state sovereignty.