US federal judge rules Wisconsin judge cannot claim immunity in immigration obstruction case News
Joe Gratz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
US federal judge rules Wisconsin judge cannot claim immunity in immigration obstruction case

A US federal judge on Tuesday rejected a Wisconsin state court judge’s claim of judicial immunity, allowing criminal charges to proceed against her for allegedly obstructing federal immigration enforcement.

Judge Lynn Adelman of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan’s motion to dismiss a federal indictment. The indictment charges Dugan under 18 U.S.C. § 1071 with concealing a person from arrest and under 18 U.S.C. § 1505 with obstructing removal proceedings conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Federal prosecutors allege that in April 2025, Dugan confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside her courtroom, told them they needed a judicial warrant to arrest a noncitizen defendant, and directed them to leave the area. According to the indictment, she later allowed the individual and his attorney to exit through a non-public jury door, advising that he could appear remotely at his next court date.

In her motion to dismiss, Dugan argued that the alleged conduct constituted official judicial acts shielded by absolute immunity, that the prosecution violated the Tenth Amendment by intruding on state court authority, and that the statutes should be construed to avoid constitutional conflicts. Judge Adelman rejected these arguments, ruling that while judges enjoy immunity from civil suits for damages, the Supreme Court has never recognized absolute judicial immunity from criminal liability. He emphasized that judicial acts may serve as the means of accomplishing an unlawful end, and that immunity does not bar prosecutions alleging corrupt intent.

The court further held that the Tenth Amendment and federalism claims required factual development inappropriate for resolution on a motion to dismiss, and found no ambiguity in the federal charging statutes that would justify narrowing them under the constitutional avoidance doctrine.

The decision adopts a magistrate judge’s earlier recommendation and schedules the case for a further hearing on September 3.

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On January 12, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt revived the National War Labor Board (NWLB) for World War II. In order to prevent wartime labor stoppages, the NWLB was set up to arbitrate labor disputes that arose during the war. The NWLB also managed wage controls over the airplane, automobile, shipping, mining, telegraph, and railway industries during the war. The original NWLB was created by President Woodrow Wilson during World War I for largely the same purposes. Read Cornell University's collection of NWLB files from both World Wars.