A Wisconsin judge was arrested Friday morning on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement, with most legal professions working on low-income people and marginalized groups.
Federal authorities arrested Judge Hannah C. Dugan of Milwaukee County Circuit Court for allegedly “deliberately misleading federal agents,” FBI Director Cash Patel wrote on social media. In March, Judge Dugan directed an undocumented immigrant at a side door in court, while agents waited in a public corridor to arrest him.
Known among Milwaukee’s progressive circle, Judge Dugan was elected at a high margin in 2016, beating the current appointment of former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Judge Dugan did not object to re-election in 2022. Her current term expires in 2028.
In 2023, she dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Republican Party in Wisconsin that argued Milwaukee's voting efforts violated the law.
Judge Dugan, 65, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1987 and works in Wisconsin’s legal action, which provides free legal services. According to her LinkedIn page, she worked as a lawyer specializing in housing, public welfare and social security cases and served as coordinator of the organization's Pro Bono's attorney program from 1990 to 1994.
Later, she served as executive director of Catholic charity in Southeast Wisconsin. Judge Dugan also served on the Milwaukee County Ethics Commission.
As a lawyer for legal aid, Judge Dugan accepted cases of defending poverty. In 1995, she represented people hanging out on the downtown sidewalk, deeming that it was unconstitutional to forbid them to do so.
She argued in 2000 that the surge in tickets written for the “quality of life” issue led to intimidation.
When she told the Milwaukee Diary Sentinel, people didn’t want to be with my clients, people didn’t want to go to court, let alone trial. “We have seen an increase in complaints of harassment and abuse. ”
According to Sentinel, Judge Dugan lost his judicial campaign in 2012. During the campaign, she said she was nonpartisan and would be just.
“Justice is hard work. Everyone knows that,” she said.
Milwaukee-based criminal defense attorney Julius Kim met Judge Dugan for years on Friday, saying she was known for representing “the underrepresented persons in the judicial system.”
“The social justice issue is close to her heart,” he said. “But that said, I don't think she knows any of the driving forces she has in the court.
In 2021, Judge Dugan became Shepherd Express in the final of the Milwaukee competition’s “Most Trusted Public Office” category, another publication.
In an article detailing the history of women in Wisconsin’s legal career that year, Judge Dugan pointed out that one of her “passion projects” was a photograph taken outside every court in Wisconsin.
