Who Is Hannah Dugan, the Wisconsin Judge Arrested in Immigration Dispute?

[ad_1] The Wisconsin choose who was arrested on Friday morning on prices of obstructing immigration enforcement spent most of her authorized profession engaged on behalf of low-income individuals and marginalized teams.

Federal authorities arrested the choose, Hannah C. Dugan of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court docket, on suspicion that she “deliberately misdirected federal brokers away from” an immigrant being pursued by federal authorities, Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, wrote on social media. The authorities mentioned that earlier this month, Decide Dugan directed an undocumented immigrant by a facet door in her courtroom whereas the brokers waited in a public hallway to apprehend him.

A press release issued on behalf of Decide Dugan late Friday acknowledged that she “will defend herself vigorously and appears ahead to being exonerated.” She has employed a former federal prosecutor to characterize her, the assertion mentioned, and “has dedicated herself to the rule of regulation and the rules of due course of for her complete profession as a lawyer and a choose.”

Decide Dugan, broadly recognized in progressive circles in Milwaukee, was elected by a large margin in 2016, beating an incumbent appointee of Scott Walker, the Republican former governor of Wisconsin. Decide Dugan was unopposed for re-election in 2022. Her present time period expires in 2028.

In 2023, she dismissed a lawsuit introduced by the Republican Celebration of Wisconsin that argued a get-out-the-vote effort in Milwaukee violated the regulation.

Decide Dugan, 65, graduated from the College of Wisconsin Regulation Faculty in 1987 and took a job at Authorized Motion of Wisconsin, a bunch that gives free authorized companies. She labored as a lawyer specializing in housing, public advantages and Social Safety instances, and was the coordinator of the group’s professional bono legal professional program from 1990 to 1994, in keeping with her LinkedIn web page.

She later labored as the manager director for Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin. Decide Dugan has additionally served on the Milwaukee County Ethics Board.

As a lawyer for Authorized Support, Decide Dugan took on instances defending the indigent. In 1995, she represented individuals who panhandled on downtown sidewalks, arguing that banning them from doing so was unconstitutional.

In 2000, she argued {that a} surge in tickets written for “quality-of-life” points had resulted in intimidation.

“Anecdotally, from my purchasers, individuals don’t need to go to courtroom, a lot much less to trial, as a result of they’ve been significantly intimidated by officers,” she advised The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the time. “We’ve seen a rise in complaints of harassment and abuse.”

Decide Dugan misplaced a judicial race in 2012. In the course of the marketing campaign, she mentioned she was nonpartisan and could be neutral, in keeping with the Journal Sentinel.

“Justice is difficult work. Everybody is aware of that,” she mentioned.

Julius Kim, a felony protection lawyer in Milwaukee who has recognized Decide Dugan for years, mentioned on Friday that she is thought for advocating on behalf of people who find themselves “underrepresented within the justice system.”

“Social justice points are near her coronary heart,” he mentioned. “However that being mentioned, I don’t suppose she’s recognized by any stretch to be any sort of pushover within the courthouse, both. I believe she takes her obligations critically as a choose.”

In 2021, Decide Dugan was a finalist within the “Most Trusted Public Official” class within the Better of Milwaukee contest in The Shepherd Categorical, another publication.

In an article she wrote that yr detailing the historical past of ladies in Wisconsin’s authorized career, Decide Dugan famous {that a} “ardour venture” of hers was to have her image taken outdoors of each courthouse in Wisconsin.

Native officers in Milwaukee criticized her arrest.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson of Milwaukee mentioned that “it sends a chilling impact to different individuals who take part in our judicial course of right here in Milwaukee.

“When people don't take part within the judicial course of, that makes our group much less protected,” he mentioned.

David Crowley, the Milwaukee County govt, mentioned in an announcement that Decide Dugan is “entitled to her constitutional proper to due course of.”

“Nonetheless, it's clear that the F.B.I. is politicizing this example to make an instance of her and others throughout the nation who oppose their assault on the judicial system and our nation’s immigration legal guidelines,” he mentioned.

Outdoors the federal courthouse in Milwaukee on Friday afternoon, dozens of individuals gathered in protest of Decide Dugan’s arrest. Some known as it an assault on the judiciary by the Trump administration, carrying indicators studying “Fingers off our judges.”

“If we don’t arise now, we’ll lose the prospect to,” mentioned Jenica Wolski, 37, a graphic artist from the close by suburb of Wauwatosa. “We're sliding so quick into authoritarianism, it’s scary.”