If the facts hold as presented, Judge Dugan isn’t fit to be a judge.
Judge Dugan, the Migrant and the Law
The Wall Street Journal editorial board comments Judge Dugan, the Migrant and the Law
That’s the way it looks to us so far in the case of last week’s arrest by federal agents of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an illegal migrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Judge Dugan was charged with obstructing a federal proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. A federal magistrate found probable cause for the arrest upon reviewing a 13-page criminal complaint.
The alleged facts as laid out in the complaint by FBI special agent Lindsay Schloemer don’t look good for the judge. Judge Dugan was scheduled to preside over a hearing in a case against Mexican national Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who has been charged with criminal battery.
But Mr. Flores-Ruiz was also in the U.S. illegally, and an immigration official had issued an arrest warrant for him. ICE deportation agents planned to arrest him at the courthouse. ICE sometimes seeks to arrest illegal migrants in the public areas of courthouses because that’s where they can locate migrants accused of crimes. They are also safer than a home arrest because the migrant will have had to go through a security checkpoint.
The complaint says Judge Dugan was “angry” upon hearing the ICE plans and raised objections with other judges. Witnesses say she then invited Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to leave through the “jury door” so he could avoid arrest. The deportation agents nonetheless spotted Mr. Flores-Ruiz in a public area of the courthouse and arrested him as he attempted to flee down the street.
Judge Dugan is an officer of the court. The deportation agents were fulfilling their duty to detain an illegal migrant under a lawful warrant. Even if she disagrees with federal deportation policy, Judge Dugan can’t obstruct federal officers seeking to enforce the law.
It’s especially concerning that, in the process of allegedly helping Mr. Flores-Ruiz, Judge Dugan canceled her hearing on his alleged domestic crime without informing the prosecutor or the alleged victims. They were left sitting unaware in the courtroom, according to the complaint. If Mr. Flores-Ruiz had managed to escape arrest, how would his victims have received their day in court?
I have been very critical of Trump in cases where I thought he did not follow the law or the court. This case goes the other way.
Dugan is unfit to be a judge if the facts are as presented above.
I am in a very small minority but I want all sides to follow the law.
If there are cases of activist judges (or activist Administration rulings), I want all sides to follow the normal Appeal Court process.
This was a rogue judge.