The recent arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan has drawn widespread attention—but legal experts say it’s far from unprecedented.
“The case against the [Wisconsin] judge. It’s unusual, but it’s not unprecedented,” CNN crime correspondent Katelyn Polantz said on Friday.
“There has been a case like this before in 2019 during the first Trump administration, charging a judge in Massachusetts who was accused of something very similar, trying to usher someone out of that courtroom as ICE officials were waiting for that defendant,” she added. “In that case, that ended up being resolved. Those charges were dropped in the Biden administration against that judge in Massachusetts, but she ended up cutting a deal. So it was a legitimate case there as well.”
In that 2019 case, Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former court officer Wesley MacGregor were indicted on federal obstruction charges. They were accused of helping a twice-deported undocumented defendant exit a courthouse to evade immigration agents, but the charges were later dropped under the Biden administration, CNN reported.
Polantz added that the government has “a case” against Dugan.
“Well, they have a case, and that case is going to go on in court,” Polantz said. “She hasn’t entered a plea yet. She was released after her appearance.”
Why It Matters
Since beginning his second term, Trump has rolled out an aggressive immigration agenda, which has included mass deportations and a shift toward stricter enforcement and fewer legal immigration pathways. The sweeping actions have reignited debate not only about immigration policy, but also about who gets to stay in the United States and under what conditions.
As a result, the Trump administration has clashed with judges at all levels over immigration policies and enforcement since Inauguration Day, but Dugan’s arrest marks a significant shift in tensions between the justice system and the executive branch.
Judges are rarely arrested or impeached, but U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Friday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was going to prosecute more.
Judge Hannah Dugan is seen in Milwaukee in 2016. Judge Hannah Dugan is seen in Milwaukee in 2016. Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent/AP
What To Know
Dugan was arrested Friday by the FBI for allegedly obstructing federal authorities who were seeking to detain an illegal immigrant.
According to a 13-page federal complaint, Dugan allegedly helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national, avoid arrest by federal immigration agents after he appeared in her courtroom for a pretrial conference. The complaint accuses her of escorting Flores-Ruiz out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot. Flores-Ruiz is facing three misdemeanor battery charges. He had been in the U.S. since reentering the country after he was deported in 2013, according to court documents.
An FBI affidavit describes Dugan as “visibly angry” over the arrival of immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
Dugan is facing charges of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
The Milwaukee County judge appeared briefly in federal court on Friday before being released from custody.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing.
The charges against Dugan could carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines.
Her prosecution follows a broader directive from the Justice Department to pursue local officials who interfere with federal immigration enforcement amid Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a January memo, the department instructed prosecutors to consider criminal charges against state and local authorities who obstruct or impede federal operations. The guidance specifically pointed to conspiracy statutes and federal laws against harboring undocumented immigrants as possible legal avenues.
Dugan’s prosecution has sparked backlash from Trump administration critics.
Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest, accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using “dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.”
“I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law,” he said.
Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin, called the arrest of a sitting judge a “gravely serious and drastic move” that “threatens to breach” the separation of power between the executive and judicial branches.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Dugan’s arrest a “dangerous escalation,” while Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson accused Trump of targeting political enemies instead of addressing economic issues. Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari warned it was a clear sign of rising authoritarianism.
Trump administration officials have defended the arrest. Bondi wrote on X that “no one is above the law.”
On FOX News Channel’s America Reports, Bondi said the Trump administration will target judges who oppose the president’s immigration crackdown.
“If you are harboring a fugitive…we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you,” she said.
Republican Wisconsin Representative Scott Fitzgerald said: “Hannah Dugan allegedly helped an illegal alien evade arrest by ICE. This is an egregious abuse of power by someone sworn to uphold the law.”
Who Is County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan?
Judge Hannah Dugan has been a fixture in Wisconsin’s legal community for nearly 30 years. Now in her ninth year on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court bench, Dugan presides over cases in the court’s misdemeanor division.
Before joining the judiciary, Dugan devoted much of her professional life to supporting low-income clients, first through legal aid organizations and later as executive director of Catholic Charities.
Dugan was elected to the bench in 2016 after unseating then-Governor Scott Walker’s appointee, Paul Rifelj, in a contested race for Branch 31. She was re-elected without opposition in 2022, and her current term runs through 2028. Circuit court judges in Wisconsin serve six-year terms.
What People Are Saying
Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin said in a statement: “In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons. The President’s administration arresting a sitting judge is a gravely serious and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those very separations of power.
“Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by. By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this President is putting those basic Democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line. While details of this exact case remain minimal, this action fits into the deeply concerning pattern of this President’s lawless behavior and undermining courts and Congress‘s checks on his power.”
Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement: “In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers—this is the fundamental demand of justice in America.
“Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law, our nation’s judiciary, the importance of judges making decisions impartially without fear or favor, and the efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime. I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on X: “There are no kings in America. Trump and Bondi can’t just decide to arrest sitting judges at will and threaten judges into submission. This is a dangerous escalation, an attack on the separation of powers, and we will fight this with everything we have.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, in a statement: “I will say, I wish the Trump administration would focus less on settling scores with their perceived political enemies and focus their attention on fixing the economy that they’ve broken or remedying the mistakes they have made as they slashed through important federal programs.”
Arizona Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari, on X: “This is why we’ve been sounding the alarm on authoritarianism. It’s happening and it’s extremely dangerous.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X: “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. No one is above the law.”
Republican Wisconsin Representative Scott Fitzgerald said on X: “Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helped an illegal alien evade arrest by ICE. This is an egregious abuse of power by someone sworn to uphold the law. No one—especially a judge—should interfere with federal immigration enforcement.”
Republican Wisconsin Representative Tony Wied, on X: “Not only are activist judges trying to thwart the President’s agenda, now they are actively breaking the law to protect illegal aliens. Judge Dugan should resign immediately.”
What Happens Next
Dugan’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 15.
