The Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Tuesday after she was arrested and charged last week for obstructing immigration authorities. The Court said Dugan is “temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the State of Wisconsin,” effective immediately and until a further court order. 

In a criminal complaint filed by last week, the FBI charged Dugan with two federal offenses: 1) obstructing and impeding a proceeding before a US department or agency;  and 2) “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.” According to the FBI, the charges brought against Dugan are in relation to her conduct before and during a pretrial conference involving Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. Flores-Ruiz is an undocumented immigrant being charged with three counts of battery/domestic abuse.

Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in front of Dugan in a battery and domestic abuse case on April 18. On that date and during the pretrial conference, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrived at the courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz. They were waiting in the hallway outside of Dugan’s courtroom, where Flores-Ruiz was with his lawyer, opposing counsel, and Dugan.

Upon learning that there were deportation officers outside her courtroom, Dugan allegedly came out to the hallway and was “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor.” According to ICE officers, she then directed some of them away from the courtroom to the chief justice’s office. The courtroom deputy added that Dugan then returned to the courtroom and allowed Flores-Ruiz to leave through the jury box, which led to a nonpublic area of the courthouse. After a foot-chase  outside the courthouse, the officers eventually apprehended Flores-Ruiz. The FBI complaint states that Dugan’s conduct was in violation of §§ 1505 and 1071 of Title 18 the US Code.

In suspending Dugan and noting its role under the state constitution, the Wisconsin Supreme Court stated:

to uphold the public’s confidence in the courts of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceeding against Judge Dugan, we conclude, on our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.