Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Arrested by Feds, Sparking Outrage Over Treatment
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested April 25 by federal agents and charged with two felonies for helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after a court hearing, officials said.
Dugan, 65, was arrested at 8 a.m. inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse and taken into federal custody, according to Brady McCarron, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service. She is facing two federal charges: obstruction and concealing an individual.
She is expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries later today.
News of Her Arrest Caused Immediate Backlash
Milwaukee defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Franklyn Gimbel called the arrest “outrageous.”
“First and foremost, I know — as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades — that a person who is a judge, who has a residence and no problem being found, should not be arrested like some common criminal,” Gimbel said. “I’m shocked and surprised that the U.S. Attorney’s office or the FBI would not have simply asked her to come in.”
He went on to call the move by law enforcement “very, very outrageous” and “not professional.”
Gimbel stressed that Dugan should have been allowed to turn herself in quietly, instead of being treated like a flight risk.
The arrest was tied to an incident on April 18 when Dugan allegedly misled immigration agents trying to arrest a man named Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant facing three misdemeanor battery charges. Flores-Ruiz was in her courtroom for a pre-trial hearing and is now being held at Dodge Detention Facility by ICE.
Federal agents have been making regular trips to the Milwaukee County Courthouse in recent months. This was the third time in a short period that ICE tried to arrest someone there.
Flores-Ruiz’s charges stem from a March 12 fight between roommates over loud music. According to a criminal complaint, he allegedly punched a man 30 times and also hit a woman who tried to intervene.
Each misdemeanor battery charge carries up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
Judge Dugan, who was elected to the bench in 2016, beat a Republican appointee to win her seat. Her current term ends in 2028. She has not commented publicly about the case and declined to discuss it when reached on April 24.
FBI Director Kash Patel briefly posted about her arrest on X, accusing Dugan of helping an “illegal alien” evade arrest, but later deleted the post.
Multiple courthouse officials confirmed the arrest to local reporters, and Chief Judge Carl Ashley notified courthouse staff by email.
Officials at the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office have not commented publicly.
A New Line Crossed
The arrest of a sitting judge inside her own courthouse is a line this country has rarely crossed. Judges are supposed to represent order, fairness, and stability in the justice system. Dragging a veteran judge out of court in handcuffs — especially over allegations that are not violent crimes — sends a message that no one is off limits anymore. It raises hard questions: Are we using the justice system to prove a point? Are we willing to blow up trust in the courts just to make an example out of someone?
No matter how the charges against Dugan play out, the damage to the public’s view of fairness and independence in the courts has already begun.
