Federal prosecutors have filed a response opposing Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s motion to dismiss an indictment accusing her of helping an illegal immigrant evade federal immigration authorities.
The filing comes weeks after Dugan was indicted on charges of obstruction of proceedings before a U.S. agency and unlawful concealment of an individual subject to arrest.
No one is above the law pic.twitter.com/TSrQ4GNMdA
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) April 26, 2025
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The charges stem from an April 18 incident at the Milwaukee County Courthouse involving Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national charged with three misdemeanor domestic battery offenses.
Prosecutors allege that Judge Dugan personally escorted Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse while agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were present to serve a federal immigration warrant.
Dugan, 65, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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Her attorneys argue that she is protected by judicial immunity and claim that the prosecution violates her 10th Amendment rights and the constitutional separation of powers.
In their filing last month, Dugan’s defense stated that the federal government overstepped its authority in arresting and indicting a sitting state judge.
In a filing submitted Wednesday, federal prosecutors argued that judicial immunity does not extend to criminal conduct.
“The Supreme Court has made clear that judges are not immune from criminal liability,” prosecutors wrote.
“In the end, Dugan asks for this Court to develop a novel doctrine of judicial immunity from criminal prosecution, and to apply it to the facts alleged in the indictment, all without reasonable basis—directly or indirectly—in the Constitution, statutes, or case law.”
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Prosecutors further noted that “in her lengthy memorandum, Dugan concedes that ‘[j]udges, like legislators and executive officials, are not above the law.’”
Remember what they said. No one is above the law. That includes immigration law. pic.twitter.com/h8qfPNhwte
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They added, “Dugan’s desired ruling would, in essence, say that judges are ‘above the law,’ and uniquely entitled to interfere with federal law enforcement.”
According to the Justice Department, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents, along with officers from the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were positioned in the courthouse hallway on April 18 awaiting Flores-Ruiz’s court appearance when the judge became aware of their presence.
Surveillance footage obtained through a public records request reportedly shows Judge Dugan, in her judicial robe, approaching and confronting the ICE agents.
Prosecutors allege that she told the agents they needed a judicial warrant and instructed them to go to the office of the chief judge, even though she knew he was not available.
Prosecutors say that Dugan left her courtroom, disrupted proceedings in another courtroom to seek assistance from a colleague, and confronted ICE agents in a public hallway.
According to the filing, “The evidence also will show that agents were not in the courtroom when Dugan took the bench, but that—after being told by a member of her staff that ICE agents were present in the hallway—Dugan chose to pause an unrelated case, leave her courtroom, disrupt proceedings in a colleague’s courtroom to commandeer her assistance, and then confront agents in the public hallway.”
Dugan then allegedly returned to her courtroom and directed Flores-Ruiz’s attorney to “take your client out and come back and get a date; and then to go through the jury door and down the stairs.”
Prosecutors say Judge Dugan personally escorted Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through a non-public hallway that led to a courthouse exit.
Video footage shows Flores-Ruiz leaving the building with his attorney, followed by an ICE agent.
He is later seen running along the outside of the courthouse before being apprehended about a block away. Federal authorities arrested Dugan one week later.
Prosecutors contend that Dugan acted outside her judicial role and interfered with lawful federal enforcement.
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“Put simply, nothing in the indictment or the anticipated evidence at trial supports Dugan’s assertion that agents ‘disrupted’ the court’s docket; instead, all events arose from Dugan’s unilateral, non-judicial, and unofficial actions in obstructing a federal immigration matter over which she, as a Wisconsin state judge, had no authority,” the filing states.
Dugan’s attorneys continue to defend her actions, asserting that she acted within her official capacity.
Attorney Dean Strang told Fox News Digital that the defense will issue a formal reply to the government’s filing next week.
A trial date has been scheduled for July 21.
If convicted, Judge Dugan faces up to six years in federal prison.
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