Parties Divided on Judge Dugan’s Arrest

Deborah Davis dressed as the Statue of Liberty for a protest outside of the federal courthouse in Milwaukee, Wis., following the FBI’s arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan. Nick Rommel/WPR

Federal law enforcement’s arrest of a Milwaukee County judge in her courthouse Friday left some Wisconsin officials worried about attacks on the independence of the judiciary and others saying the charges show no one is above the law.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was charged Friday in federal court with obstructing immigration authorities. She is accused of helping a man avoid arrest by federal immigration officers after the man came to her courtroom for a scheduled hearing on a criminal case.

According to a criminal complaint, a courtroom deputy told the FBI that Dugan directed the man and his attorney out of the courtroom through a door and hallway not usually used for the public while ICE agents were elsewhere in the courthouse talking to another judge.

The man was arrested outside the courthouse after a foot chase, according to the complaint.

Dugan’s arrest was initially announced on social media by FBI Director Kash Patel about a half hour after Dugan was taken into custody.

In an interview later Friday on Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “No one is above the law.”

“And if you are destroying evidence, if you’re obstructing justice, when you have victims sitting in a courtroom of domestic violence and you’re escorting a criminal defendant out a back door, it will not be tolerated, and it is a crime in the United States of America,” Bondi said. “Doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to be prosecuted.”

Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement saying  he respects the legal process but the Trump administration has a record of trying to undermine judges.

“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,” Evers wrote.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin also reacted to the arrest with worries about the independence of the judicial system.

“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,” Baldwin stated.

And a small group of protesters gathered outside the courthouse Friday afternoon to speak out about the arrest.

But some Republicans called Dugan’s actions “disgraceful.”

“Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with public officials who use their positions of power to shield individuals who have no legal right to be in this country, especially those who pose a threat to our communities,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, stated. “If these allegations are true, this judge violated the trust of the people she was elected to serve.”

A social media post from Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, of Clyman, called Dugan’s actions an “egregious abuse of power by someone sworn to uphold the law.”

“No one — especially a judge — should interfere with federal immigration enforcement,” Fitzgerald said.

The ACLU of Wisconsin and the national ACLU reacted to the arrest with a statement saying federal law does not require state judges to act as agents of federal immigration enforcement.

“We want to allow due process to be carried out, with all facts available to the public,” the civil rights groups stated. “However, it is readily apparent that ICE arrests in courthouses gravely impact the willingness of immigrant communities to come forward as victims or witnesses of crime, and seek out help or due process they have a right to.”

An attack on judicial independence or a sign no one is above the law? was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.