Judge Moves to Dismiss Charges for Alleged ICE Interference

A judge from Wisconsin facing federal obstruction charges for allegedly hindering government officials during an immigration operation has responded with a motion to dismiss her case. This action was taken just one day before her scheduled arraignment.

“Immunity is not simply a matter for a jury or court to decide later,” contends Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan in the recently filed motion in Wisconsin’s Eastern District. “It serves as a complete barrier to prosecution from the very beginning,” her attorneys assert.

Dugan, who is out on bond, was arrested last month for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade detainment and for falsely telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that they needed to obtain a judicial warrant to take the individual into custody. She is charged with obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States, and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest, which carry a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines.

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In her motion, Dugan’s lawyers condemn her charges and prosecution as being “irrelevant to immunity.” They claim that even if the judge, who has been on the bench in Milwaukee County since 2016, did what she’s accused of doing, there would be no way of prosecuting her “because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,” according to the motion.

“The government has no basis in law to prosecute her,” Dugan’s legal team says. “The prosecution against her is barred.”

The government’s prosecution of the judge is “virtually unprecedented and entirely unconstitutional,” the motion adds, arguing that it violates the 10th Amendment and “fundamental principles of federalism and comity reflected in that amendment and in the very structure of the United States Constitution.”