MIKE DAVIS: One leftist Wisconsin judge lets fellow traveler off with wrist slap
Disgraced former Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan resigned from the bench after getting charged with obstruction of justice for distracting ICE agents and helping an illegal alien charged with domestic abuse escape through a back door to avoid arrest. A federal jury found her guilty of obstruction of justice, and she faced a recommended prison sentence of 15 to 21 months in prison, with a 60-month maximum. Shamefully, former Democrat politician and Clinton-appointed Judge Lynn Adelman gave her no jail time.
Dugan's conduct, and the woefully lenient sentence for it, defiles the judiciary and shows that some people are indeed above the law.
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz blatantly disregarded our laws by entering our country illegally. He was deported and should have gotten the message to stay away from our nation. Instead, he came back, again illegally, and began wreaking havoc in Milwaukee. On April 18, 2025, he had a scheduled appearance in Dugan's courtroom for three domestic violence charges. Aware of Flores-Ruiz's expected appearance, ICE agents went to arrest him at the Milwaukee County Courthouse pursuant to an administrative warrant. That's when Dugan grossly and illegally abused her power, causing chaos and putting those agents' lives in danger in the interest of her radical leftist ideology.
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The agents informed Dugan's courtroom deputy why they were there and politely waited for Flores-Ruiz in a public hallway. When informed of the impending arrest, Dugan inexcusably left her courtroom to confront the agents. She claimed that an administrative warrant was insufficient for an arrest, a legally absurd assertion coming from a judge. She ordered agents to leave the building, a command she had no authority to issue. Finally, she directed the agents to the office of the chief judge. Unbeknownst to the agents, this was Dugan's way of diverting their attention so she could put her plan into effect.
Once the agents left, Dugan immediately addressed Flores-Ruiz's case off the record and scheduled a status conference, even informing the defendant's attorney that the accused domestic abuser could appear via Zoom. Then, Dugan directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave through a side door inaccessible to the public. The judge even led them out herself so the illegal alien did not have to pass through a door opening to a public hallway. Dugan ensured Flores-Ruiz reached a stairwell leading out of the building and to the street so he could escape easily.
Within minutes, the agents determined what had occurred. Along with FBI agents, they gave chase and eventually arrested Flores-Ruiz. This chaotic scene unfolded in front of moving city traffic in the downpour of rain. Any agent could have been killed had a car skidded in the poor conditions. This risk was eminently foreseeable. But Dugan flagrantly disregarded it in the name of protecting an illegal immigrant and accused domestic abuser. The Justice Department properly sought and obtained an indictment against Dugan for her unforgivable conduct.
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Dugan could have accepted responsibility for what she had done and humbly apologized. Instead, she laughably asserted a defense of judicial immunity for her plainly illegal conduct. Pitifully and predictably, dozens of former judges signed onto a brief supporting Dugan's legally baseless claim. These judicial lightweights included the pathetic J. Michael Luttig, a once-respected judge who descended into irrelevance when President George W. Bush correctly passed him over for multiple Supreme Court vacancies. Judges have never been entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official conduct. The Supreme Court made it clear in Dennis v. Sparks (1980) that judges face prosecution the same as ordinary citizens. Judge Lynn Adelman correctly rejected Dugan's feeble immunity argument.
At trial, the evidence against Dugan was overwhelming, and a jury of her peers made her a convicted felon. Judges consult Sentencing Guidelines, which serve as a starting point in calculating a defendant's sentence. Factors judges consider include specific deterrence, general deterrence and protecting the public from the defendant. Dugan's sentencing range fell between 15 and 21 months' imprisonment. She had one point in mitigation: her lack of a criminal record. Her unconscionable abuse of power and the public trust, however, overwhelmingly outweighed this mitigation.
Even more egregiously, Dugan endangered the lives of federal agents who were trying to do their jobs safely because this radical in a robe disagreed with the law they were enforcing. She showed no remorse, wasting valuable resources by asserting a frivolous defense. In short, Dugan's conduct – both during her crime and after it – warranted incarceration. Even though she thankfully is no longer a judge, her imprisonment would have sent a deterrent signal to other rogue judges tempted to follow her shameful example.
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Judge Adelman, formerly a Democrat politician in Wisconsin, did not see it that way. Dugan now walks free, a mere $5,000 lighter, after her flagrant violation of her judicial oath and the law. Many nonviolent defendants from January 6 served far more time in custody. When volunteering to lead Flores-Ruiz through the side door, Dugan told her court reporter not to do it. "I'll do it. I'll get the heat," Dugan said, per trial testimony. That statement illustrates that Dugan knew full well her conduct was unlawful. She was wrong, however. She did not get much heat for it. Instead, thanks to a fellow leftist judge, she received a slap on the wrist.