Federal judge lets conviction stand against former Wisconsin judge
Hannah Dugan was convicted after prosecutors said she helped an undocumented man avoid immigration agents at her courthouse.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
A federal judge has refused to throw out the conviction of Hannah Dugan, a former Wisconsin judge found guilty of helping a man avoid federal immigration agents at her courthouse. The ruling keeps Dugan on track for sentencing in a case tied to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement push, according to Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman had delayed sentencing while he considered Dugan’s bid to overturn the verdict, Al Jazeera and AP reported. In a decision issued Tuesday, Adelman declined to set aside the conviction.
Dugan’s defense team criticized the decision after it was released. “The court’s decision is wrong,” her lawyers said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera and AP.
Agents came to her courtroom
The case centered on Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented man who was due in Dugan’s courtroom for a hearing in a state battery case, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Federal immigration agents went to the courthouse seeking to arrest him.
Dugan confronted the agents and told them their administrative warrant was not enough to arrest Flores-Ruiz, according to Al Jazeera and AP. Prosecutors said she then helped Flores-Ruiz avoid the agents by directing him and his lawyer out through a private jury door.
A jury convicted Dugan on December 19, Al Jazeera and AP reported. She faces a possible sentence of five years in prison, though the outlets reported she is likely to receive probation because she has no criminal record and was convicted of a nonviolent offense.
A case shaped by immigration politics
Dugan, 67, had served as a judge for nine years before resigning amid impeachment threats from Wisconsin Republicans, according to Al Jazeera and AP. She was arrested at the courthouse and taken out in handcuffs a week after the incident involving Flores-Ruiz.
Republican officials have portrayed Dugan as an activist judge who helped someone in the country illegally avoid law enforcement, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Her lawyers argued that the Trump administration singled her out because she defied the federal government on one of its central priorities.
The prosecution drew attention because it came during a broader shift in immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, according to Al Jazeera and AP. The outlets reported that the administration has taken a more aggressive approach toward officials it views as soft on immigrants or resistant to its mass deportation efforts.
Earlier administrations generally avoided immigration arrests at courthouses, Al Jazeera and AP reported, citing concerns that such actions could deter immigrants from using the courts or reporting crimes. The Trump administration broke with that practice and also pursued immigration operations at other sensitive locations, including houses of worship, according to the report.
Adelman’s ruling leaves the conviction in place and shifts the case back toward sentencing. No sentencing date was reported in the account by Al Jazeera and AP.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.