Prosecutors explain: A judge doesn’t get a free pass to violate the law
Prosecutors in Wisconsin have just filed an unusual document with a court: They explained that just because a person is a judge, that doesn’t mean she gets a free pass to break the law.
That earlier was the stunning claim from Hannah Dugan, a now-suspended judge, arguing that prosecutors weren’t even allowed to bring a case against her after evidence showed she distracted federal agents, then let an illegal alien criminal walk out of the courthouse.
Dugan’s claim was that she has absolutely immunity for whatever she does in her courtroom – even in the courthouse building.
A report at Fox News now explains that prosecutors disagree.
Federal prosecutors argued Monday that a court should reject a Wisconsin judge’s attempt to have the obstruction case against her dismissed based on judicial immunity.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, 65, was arrested by the FBI on April 25 and is charged with… pic.twitter.com/dVslgVPHGa
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) June 10, 2025
Prosecutors now have responded to her claim, explaining “the Supreme Court has made clear that judges are not immune from criminal liability.”
Their filing said, “In the end, Dugan asks for this Court to develop a novel doctrine of judicial immunity from criminal prosecution, and to apply it to the facts alleged in the indictment, all without reasonable basis—directly or indirectly—in the Constitution, statutes, or case law. … In her lengthy memorandum, Dugan concedes that ‘[j]udges, like legislators and executive officials, are not above the law.’ Dugan’s desired ruling would, in essence, say that judges are ‘above the law,’ and uniquely entitled to interfere with federal law enforcement.”
Prosecutors have accused the Milwaukee Circuit Court judge of personally escorting Mexican illegal immigrant and domestic battery suspect Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse. That was after Dugan directed ICE agents to go consult with the chief judge and they left the hallway in front of the courtroom.
The 65-year-old Dugan has been indicted on federal charges of obstruction of proceedings before a U.S. agency and the unlawful concealment of an individual subject to arrest.
Prosecutors said, “Put simply, nothing in the indictment or the anticipated evidence at trial supports Dugan’s assertion that agents ‘disrupted’ the court’s docket; instead, all events arose from Dugan’s unilateral, non-judicial, and unofficial actions in obstructing a federal immigration matter over which she, as a Wisconsin state judge, had no authority. At the very least, for purposes of deciding this motion, Dugan’s claims to the contrary find no support in the indictment and should be rejected.”
WND reported when a video surfaced showing the episode.
In an interview on “American Reports,” Attorney General Pam Bondi explained how the Trump administration will handle judges who obstruct and block federal efforts to secure the border and remove illegal aliens.