A judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton and a former Democratic Wisconsin Senator will preside over Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s case for allegedly helping an illegal alien escape her courtroom and evade arrest by ICE.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has been “selected” to hear the case against Dugan, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, May 13.
Adelman, a polarizing figure who favors liberal ideology and progressive public policy, was selected through a random computer-based process, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Federal prosecutors charged Dugan in April with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts.
AP News reports that Dugan pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries scheduled a trial to begin July 21.
The leftist Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dugan is accused of helping a previously deported illegal immigrant—who was in her court for a pre-trial hearing related to severely beating a man and hitting a woman—avoid being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Dugan’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, claiming that she’s innocent and there’s no legal basis for it, Politico reports.
They argue that Dugan was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. Her conduct on the day in question “amounted to directing people’s movement in and around her courtroom,” according to the motion.
Dugan’s defense team includes some of Wisconsin’s most accomplished lawyers, AP News reported. Lead attorney Steven Biskupic was a federal prosecutor for 20 years and served seven years as U.S. attorney in Milwaukee. Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general, has argued more than 100 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Both were appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Her attorneys also maintain that the federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge. It’s the latest in an escalating saga between the Trump administration and leftist federal judges trying to block his immigration agenda.
“The problems with the prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,” the motion says. “Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset.”
The 85-year-old Adelman was appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton in 1997. Adelman also served as a state senator for 20 years. But the backroom politicking to receive the appointment was anything but routine, the Sentinel reports.
Adelman’s lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court had the support of Republicans, including then-Gov. Tommy Thompson. Political observers at the time saw it as a case of power politics because Democrats controlled the Senate by a one-vote margin, 17-16.
Even with Adelman’s departure from the Senate, Democrats took two other slots and kept a 17-16 edge in the Senate. He’s also been criticized by Conservatives for some of his decisions and articles, including a 2020 piece titled “The Roberts Court’s Assault on Democracy.” The article criticized decisions by the U.S. Supreme under Chief Justice John Roberts.
Dairyland Sentinel reports Adelman also has ruled on some key cases, including striking down Wisconsin’s 2011 voter ID law, ruling it violated the 14th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act by disproportionately burdening minority and low-income voters.
Other notable cases:
- Racial Discrimination (Kimble v. Donoghue, 2010): Adelman found that Johnny Kimble faced racial bias in pay raises from Secretary Sheehan Donoghue, ordering compensation and citing implicit bias research.
- School Busing (St. Augustine School v. Evers, 2017): Adelman upheld Superintendent Tony Evers’ denial of busing to St. Augustine School, citing proximity to another archdiocesan school. His opinion, which referenced Wikipedia, was affirmed by the 7th Circuit in 2018.
- Lead Paint Litigation (2019): Adelman awarded $6 million (later reduced to $4.8 million) to three Milwaukee men for lead poisoning under Wisconsin’s risk contribution theory, rejecting paint companies’ recusal requests tied to his 2020 article.
The high-profile Dugan case stems from an incident in her courtroom and the arrest of previously deported Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18. Flores-Ruiz was there for a domestic abuse case in Milwaukee County, where he faces three counts of battery, domestic abuse, and infliction of physical pain or injury.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Flores-Ruiz also had an Order of Expedited Removal, and ICE agents were standing by to arrest him.
After the hearing ended, Dugan reportedly directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to exit out a restricted jury door, bypassing the public area where agents were waiting in order to help him avoid arrest, per the complaint.
AP News reports her attorneys will likely try to push for a jury trial, according to John Vaudreuil, a former federal prosecutor in Wisconsin who isn’t involved in Dugan’s or Flores-Ruiz’s, because they know that “people feel very strongly about the way the president and administration is conducting immigration policy.”
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan after her arrest, saying it is in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces two federal charges.
