{"id":162081,"date":"2025-08-26T18:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T18:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wisconsin-judge-must-face-charges-in-ice-obstruction-case-mint\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T18:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T18:43:18","slug":"wisconsin-judge-must-face-charges-in-ice-obstruction-case-mint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wisconsin-judge-must-face-charges-in-ice-obstruction-case-mint\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Judge Must Face Charges in ICE Obstruction Case – Mint"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Bloomberg) — A Wisconsin state judge must face criminal charges of interfering with US immigration authorities after a federal judge rejected her claim of immunity.
The decision on Tuesday means the US Justice Department can move forward with the prosecution of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. Her indictment was part of a broader pushback by US officials against so-called sanctuary cities and local authorities perceived as standing in the way of President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown.
Dugan, who has denied wrongdoing, can appeal the decision by US District Judge Lynn Adelman. The ruling didn\u2019t address the merits of the underlying criminal case. Adelman adopted the recommendation of a US magistrate judge who rebuffed Dugan\u2019s claim of immunity from being prosecuted for actions she took as a judge and proposed the case go forward.
Dugan\u2019s lawyers and a Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dugan was arrested in May and accused of trying to prevent members of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force from arresting a Mexican immigrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who had appeared in her courtroom.
The two-count indictment alleges Dugan directed federal officials away from Flores-Ruiz\u2019s location inside the Milwaukee courthouse and then allowed him and his lawyer to leave through a nonpublic door. 
Adelman rejected Dugan\u2019s arguments for immunity that shields judges from being prosecuted for actions they take related to their official duties. The judge also found that the government plausibly argued that Dugan\u2019s alleged actions fell outside her judicial role, meaning she wouldn\u2019t be covered even if there was some limited judicial immunity.
\u201cThere is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered \u2018part of a judge\u2019s job,\u2019\u201d Adelman wrote.
Flores-Ruiz was arrested outside the courthouse. He pleaded guilty in June to illegally being in the US and agreed to be deported, according to court records.
Dugan\u2019s lawyers also argued that the indictment violated the Constitution\u2019s division of power between the federal government and states. Her lawyers cited the US Supreme Court\u2019s ruling last year that Trump \u2014 and all US presidents \u2014 have sweeping immunity from prosecution for official acts.
\u201cJudges are empowered to maintain control over their courtrooms specifically and the courthouse generally,\u201d Dugan\u2019s lawyers wrote.
The US attorney\u2019s office in Milwaukee, which is handling the prosecution, countered that Dugan\u2019s lawyers were pressing a \u201cmanufactured version\u201d of judicial immunity based on a \u201cfactually unsupported and inaccurate storyline that the federal government somehow tried to \u2018commandeer\u2019 or \u2018control\u2019 a state courtroom.\u201d 
In early July, US Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph urged Adelman to reject the immunity claim, saying the indictment wasn\u2019t related to Dugan\u2019s legal opinions or courtroom management, but separate, obstructive acts. Joseph rebuffed Dugan\u2019s argument that a judge\u2019s motive, especially whether they were acting for \u201cself-enrichment,\u201d mattered.
Federal magistrate judges are appointed by US district judges for eight-year terms. They can preside over certain cases and make binding rulings, but also serve a support role, including preparing reports with recommendations for district judges to consider on disputed issues in a case.
A trial was originally scheduled to begin July 21 but was indefinitely postponed amid the immunity fight.
The case is USA v. Dugan, 25-cr-89, US District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin (Milwaukee).
(Updated with details from the opinion and background.)
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\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.
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source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Bloomberg) — A Wisconsin state judge must face criminal charges of interfering with US immigration authorities after a federal judge rejected her claim of immunity. The decision on Tuesday means the US Justice Department can move forward with the prosecution of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. Her indictment was part of a broader pushback by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}