(NewsNation) — A Wisconsin judge has threatened to refuse to hold court following the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan last week.
Dugan, 65, was arrested by federal authorities for allegedly helping a man who was in the United States illegally avoid arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. She is facing felony charges.
Judge Monica Isham sent an email to judges across the state, in which she also spoke about racial attacks she says she has experienced in her courtroom — including people saying she has no jurisdiction over white people, and a juror saying they would not follow orders from a Black or brown person and would find any Black or brown defendant guilty.
“I have no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by ICE and sent to a concentration camp, especially without due process, as BOTH of the constitutions we swore to support require. Should I start raising bail money?” Isham wrote.
She said if judges were offered “no support and no guidance,” she would not hold court in her courtroom.
Isham closed the email by writing that if she were arrested, at least she would know she had done the right thing.
Why was Judge Hannah Dugan arrested?
Dugan is a judge in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, who is now being charged with felonies for allegedly helping an immigrant without documents avoid arrest after he was in her courtroom. She is facing one count of obstruction and one of concealing an individual.
Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, posted on X, saying Dugan “intentionally misdirected” agents away from someone who was in the country illegally. He later deleted that post. Attorney General Pam Bondi did confirm Dugan’s arrest on X.
According to The Hill, Craig Mastantuono, who represents Dugan, said, “Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”
The man who she is accused of helping hasn’t been named, but there have been reports that he is Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant who is facing three misdemeanor battery counts. He was allegedly in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18.
Flores-Ruiz is listed as being in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. His charges allegedly stem from a fight between two roommates, and he doesn’t appear to have other charges, whether federal or state.
Who is Hannah Dugan?
A Milwaukee native, Dugan was reportedly first elected to the bench in 2016 and later ran unopposed in 2022. Her current term is supposed to run through 2028.
The Hill reported that Dugan was previously the executive director of Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin, a non-profit, from 2006 to 2009. She was also an adjunct assistant professor at Marquette University and an attorney for more than a decade at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee.
Dugan told the Milwaukee Independent in 2016, “The rule of law and precendential law is meant to provide consistency and predictability to create order and safety. And yet, the law also offers the capacity to transform people’s lives and evolved with changing times and circumstances.”
The Hill reported that Dugan has been released from custody and is set to be arraigned on May 15.