The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a judge accused of helping an illegal migrant evade ICE authorities.
The highest court in the state said Tuesday that it was in the public interest to relieve Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan of her of her duties as she faces two federal charges.
The FBI took Dugan into custody Friday morning at the county courthouse on charges of concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
Dugan is accused of escorting the migrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the jury door on April 18 as a way to help avert his arrest by ICE, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.
Ruiz, who is from Mexico, had been charged with battery for allegedly punching someone 30 times in the face after they complained about his loud music.
In its two-page order, the court said it was acting to protect public confidence in Wisconsin courts during the criminal proceedings against Dugan.
The order from the state supreme court noted that the court was acting on its own initiative and was not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.
‘It is ordered … that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state of Wisconsin, effective the date of this order and until further order of the court,’ the justices wrote.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Judge Hannah Dugan (pictured) accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, saying Tuesday that it is in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces two federal charges
Dugan is accused of escorting the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz (pictured), and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the jury door on April 18 as a way to help avert his arrest, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court
In a statement, Dugan’s legal team said it was disappointed ‘that the Court acted in unilateral fashion. We continue to assert Judge Dugan´s innocence and look forward to her vindication in court.’
A state court spokesperson said that a reserve judge began filling in for Dugan on Monday for an indefinite period.
Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013.
He was taken into custody outside after a foot chase after Dugan allegedly escorted Flores-Ruiz out of the courtroom jury door.
Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
An FBI affidavit says Dugan was ‘visibly angry’ over the agents’ arrival and called 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 with what witnesses described as a ‘confrontational, angry demeanor.’
After a back-and-forth with officers over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, the affidavit says.
Supporters of Judge Hannah Dugan hold a rally in Milwaukee at the U.S. Courthouse in Milwaukee on Friday
A sign on Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s door is seen on Friday, the day of her arrest for accusations that she hid an undocumented migrant from ICE
After directing the agents to the chief judge´s office, investigators say, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of ‘wait, come with me’ before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through the jury door into a nonpublic area.
The action was unusual, the affidavit says, because ‘only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.’
Dugan was taken into custody by the FBI on the courthouse grounds, according to US Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later 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 affidavit suggests that Dugan was alerted to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the courthouse by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
This 2016 photo shows Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee
Ruiz, who is from Mexico, had been charged with battery for allegedly punching someone 30 times in the face after they complained about his loud music
Dugan was elected in 2016 to the county court Branch 31. She also has served in the court’s probate and civil divisions, according to her judicial candidate biography.
Before being elected to public office, Dugan practiced at Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Legal Aid Society. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1987 from the school.
Dugan’s arrests has sparked outrage among Democrats, who have accused the Trump administration of trying to chill the judiciary. Demonstrators gathered outside the FBI’s Milwaukee field office Saturday to protest her arrest.
Sen. 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.
‘Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by,’ Baldwin said in an emailed statement.
‘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.’
She is set to appear in court for arraignment May 15.
