The Wisconsin judge busted for allegedly helping illegal immigrants evade law enforcement was once a finalist for a “Most Trusted Public Official” award by a liberal local newspaper — but came up short of winning.
But Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan lost the first place slot for the coveted award by local media outlet Shepherd Express to retired Judge Derek Mosely.
She was among four other finalists in 2021 for the accolade, which was determined by a vote from the public. Shepherd Express had also Sen. Jon Johnson (R-Wis.) as the most “despised” politicians alongside other Republicans at the time.
Dugan was thrust into the national limelight Friday after getting arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and concealing Eduardo Flores-Ruiz from apprehension by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official outside her courtroom.
She now faces up to 10 years behind bars.
Dugan began her law career at the Legal Action of Wisconsin, which provides pro bono assistance to those who can’t afford it. She worked on Social Security, housing and welfare cases specifically.
She later worked for Legal Aid and helped defend panhandlers — arguing in court that restricting them from those activities was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has since loosened court precedent to allow states to regulate homeless activity.
“Anecdotally, from my clients, people don’t want to go to court, much less to trial, because they’ve been particularly intimidated by officers,” Dugan told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2000. “We’ve seen an increase in complaints of harassment and abuse.”
In 2012, she vied unsucessfully to be a judge. Then in 2016, she ran again and won, before sailing to reelection in 2022 as well.
One high-profile case that occured under her tenure was a GOP-backed lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee over its get-out-the-vote initiative in which the city partnered with GPS Impact, a progressive firm that has helped Democrats win in red and purple states.
Dugan tossed out the suit in 2023 under the premise that the plaintiffs showed “no facts plausibly showing that any political campaign was unduly influenced by the voting initiative.”
The city argued that it didn’t fund or manage the initiative, despite GOP complaints that partnering with the progressive firm violated the its political activity policy.
One of her objectives as a judge is to get photographed “in front of every county courthouse in Wisconsin,” according to a 2021 article she wrote.
FBI director Kash Patel announced Dugan’s arrest Friday, alleging that “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” Flores-Ruiz, 30, following his pre-trial hearing last week.
After being informed by a public defender that “there appeared to be ICE agents in the hallway,” Dugan allegedly grew angry and called on them to leave the building, a federal complaint alleges.
An official allegedly heard her “say something like, ‘Wait, come with me’” before escorting Flores-Ruiz out of the courtroom’s “jury door” to a non-public area of the courthouse, where the feds had been told they couldn’t make the arrest, the complaint said.
Eventually, the feds caught up to Flores-Ruiz and arrested him during a footchase. Flores-Ruiz had illegally enterred the US in 2013 and was deporterd. It’s not entirely clear how he got into the US the second time.
He was accused of hitting someone 30 times during a fight that erupted over complaints that his music was too loud, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“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 proceeding.
