This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Dozens of federal judges, since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, have insisted that they can make decisions for the executive branch, on issues ranging from deporting illegal alien criminals to firing executive branch employees to altering programs that were, in fact, set up on nothing more than a president's executive order.
Now it appears the move to grab power is spreading, to local judges.
That's according to a commentary at the Federalist which explains that in just recent weeks, three judges in Wisconsin have been caught "abusing the powers of the third branch."
"It's the latest exhibit of power-grabbing local judges perhaps learning some dangerous lessons from rogue members of the federal judiciary," the analysis from Matt Kittle, an award-winning investigative reporter and former chief of Empower Wisconsin, said.
The latest case involves the "punishment" from the liberal-led state Supreme Court of a one-week suspension for Ellen Berz, a Dane County judge who "threatened to arrest a defendant in a drunk driving case after she learned the accused had failed to show up to court because he was in the hospital."
Records show that the judge, stunningly demanded her bailiff go and "apprehend" the absent defendant and since he was required to remain in the courtroom for security, Berz "told those in the courtroom that she would retrieve the missing defendant herself."
She actually was en route to the hospital when she "decided against going through with her plan."
Even the leftists on the state's highest court had to conclude she treated the defendant disrespectfully and failed to act in a way that "promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."
Of course just weeks ago Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested, jailed, and then indicted on charges of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual from arrest.
Evidence shows she misdirected federal agents who were trying to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruis, who was appearing in Dugan's court.
Then when the Customs Enforcement agents and others went away from her courtroom, a "visibly angry" Dugan led the fugitive out of her courtroom through a "jury door" and he was only caught again after a chase by federal agents.
That escapade, the analysis revealed, then triggered another leftist, Judge Monica Isham in Sawyer County, threatened to stop holding court.
She emailed other judges that she has "no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by [ICE agents] and sent to a concentration camp."
She demanded, "Should I start raising bail money?" and threatened, "I will not put myself or my staff who may feel compelled to help me or my community in harms [sic] way."
All three cases arguably detail actions that violate the state's code of conduct for judges, which provides that "a judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."
The Federalist commentary points out: "Children of the 1980s likely recall an anti-drug public service announcement in which a father confronts his teenage son after finding a box of joints in the boy's closet. 'Who taught you how to do this stuff?' the concerned dad demands. 'You, alright! I learned it by watching you?' the kid fires back. Ouch. The truth hits stoner dad like a $50 Pink Floyd concert ticket."
It continues, "Local judges in Wisconsin and elsewhere certainly have been watching rogue federal jurists who have routinely overstepped their authority in a judicial resistance against Trump's policies. Leftist judges have issued suspect national injunctions on everything from President Donald Trump's efforts to deport illegal immigrants with violent criminal records to cutting funding for civil rights-abusing universities and DEI-pushing NGOs."
Kittle pointed out the observations that came recently from U.S. Fifth Circuit Appellate Court Judge James C. Ho regarding the "power grab" by the district judges, who occupy the entry level into the federal court system.
"Our founders didn't fight a Revolutionary War to replace one king in royal garb with hundreds of kings in judicial robes," Ho charged, "If a district judge abuses the legal process in a hurried effort to thwart the lawful political choices of the electorate, appellate courts are well within their right to intervene and grant emergency relief."
