The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended the judge accused of helping an illegal alien evade an arrest by immigration agents.
The state's highest court - which is dominated by liberals - relieved Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, of her duties as she fights federal obstruction charges.
"It is ordered … that Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan is temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state of Wisconsin, effective the date of this order and until further order of the court,” the Wisconsin Supreme Court wrote.
The judge is accused of helping a Mexican citizen, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, evade an arrest on April 18. The man, who was previously deported from the United States, was in Dugan's courtroom to face charges of criminal battery.
Federal agents with the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) planned to arrest Flores-Ruiz in a public hallway after his court appearance.
According to an FBI affidavit, when Dugan learned of ICE's presence, she became "visibly angry, commented that the situation was 'absurd,' left the bench, and entered chambers."
Dugan and another judge then confronted the federal agents in the hallway and told them to leave. Dugan argued with the agents over the arrest warrant and told them to report to the chief judge's office.
When Dugan returned to her courtroom, multiple witnesses, including the court's bailiff, observed the judge direct Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through a non-public "jury door." The man and his lawyer started heading for the public courtroom exit when the judge said something like, "Wait, come with me."
The FBI affidavit notes the "unusual" nature of her intervention, since "only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door."
Dugan also adjourned the hearing without the knowledge or participation of the prosecutor, who was in court that day with the victims.
Flores-Ruiz was able to exit the building, but agents caught him after a brief foot chase down "the entire length of the courthouse."
Judge Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
Many see the judge's alleged conduct as part of a troubling pattern of judicial activism.
Democrats have condemned Dugan's arrest as an act of authoritarian retribution, but the liberal Supreme Court of Wisconsin is taking the allegations against her seriously.
“In the exercise of (the) constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public’s confidence in the courts of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceeding against Judge Dugan, we conclude, in our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties,” the court ordered.
