Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin are among the politicians throughout the state who are calling for the FBI to release Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan after she was arrested April 25.
“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,” Evers said. “Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Donald 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.”
Dugan was charged with two felonies of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
According to a criminal complaint, Dugan assisted undocumented immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from being arrested by federal immigration officials on three misdemeanor counts of battery at the Milwaukee County Courthouse April 18. The report said that Dugan tried to expedite Flores-Ruiz’s hearing once she learned that federal agents were inside the courthouse, and escorted Flores-Ruiz through a jury door to a non-public area where law enforcement could not legally arrest him.
Two federal agents eventually chased Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse and apprehended him at West State Street and North 10th Street, according to the report.
The two charges that Dugan faces carry a maximum of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
An attorney for Dugan said in a statement that she has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and judge.
“Judge Dugan will defend herself vigorously, and looks forward to being exonerated,” the statement said.
Baldwin said that the arrest follows a pattern within the Trump administration of not following due process.
“In the United States, we have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons,” Baldwin said. “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.”
Evers said that he will continue to put his faith in the justice system as the court case plays out.
“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,” Evers said.
Baldwin said that the U.S. is 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,” Baldwin said. “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.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany supported the decision to arrest Dugan.
“If you help illegal aliens evade arrest, you will be arrested,” Tiffany said in a post on X.
Dugan made an initial appearance in court two hours after being arrested but made no public comments during the hearing. She was elected to Branch 31 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2016, and her judicial term expires in 2028.
