Who is Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan? Arrested for allegedly aiding immigration evasion

Here's what we know so far about Dugan and the case against her:

Dugan is a longtime Milwaukee public figure

She has been a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge since defeating an incumbent appointee of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2016. She ran unopposed in 2022, and her current term expires in 2028.

Tom Barrett, a former congressman and mayor of Milwaukee for 17 years, said he was friends with Dugan’s older sister in high school and has known Dugan, 65, since she was 12.

“As a person and a judge, she always tries to do the right thing, and she cares deeply about the community and people and justice,” Barrett said.

Ann Jacobs, a personal injury plaintiff attorney and Democratic chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said, “She is always at every parade on behalf of the judges. She is at interfaith events. Her faith is very important to her.”

Dugan previously was a litigation attorney and held administrative posts at Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. and Legal Aid Society Inc.

As an attorney, legal areas she focused on were older people and disabilities, civil rights, domestic abuse and others, according to her LinkedIn page.

Dugan was president of the Milwaukee Bar Association from 1999 to 2000 and worked three years as executive director of Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin Inc.

She was a finalist in the Most Trusted Public Official category in the 2021 Best of Milwaukee contest in The Shepherd Express, an alternative news source.

A 1981 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also received her law degree in 1987, Dugan has taught law and graduate students at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Attorneys call the judge a ‘stickler’ in the courtroom

Attorneys who have appeared before Dugan describe her as extremely tough but fair.

“She is a stickler for procedure,” Milwaukee criminal defense attorney Julius Kim said. “She’s fair. I certainly don’t think she’s a pushover, by any stretch. She’s very methodical in her approach.”

Kim said Dugan takes her job very seriously.

“In terms of toughness, she has a particular way of wanting things done in court,” he said. “In terms of her sentences, comments and how she treats litigants, I think she’s fair.”

A sign that remained posted on Dugan’s courtroom door Friday advised that if an attorney or other court official “knows or believes that a person feels unsafe coming to the courthouse” or her courtroom, they should notify the clerk and request an appearance via Zoom.

Dugan previously found herself involved in a political fight in 2023, when she dismissed a Republican Party lawsuit that argued a Milwaukee get-out-the-vote effort was illegal.

The FBI says Dugan helped a man evade ICE

The FBI took Dugan into custody on the courthouse grounds — the same building that federal immigration agents entered last week in search of Flores-Ruiz.

Flores-Ruiz was removed from the U.S. through Arizona over a decade ago, and there is no evidence he got permission to return, according to the affidavit.

A fingerprint match prompted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to go to the courthouse and wait outside the courtroom during his appearance.

After learning the agents were there, Dugan became “visibly angry,” according to the affidavit. She and another judge approached them in a hallway and sent them to the chief judge's office. Dugan then returned to her courtroom and ushered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through the jury door, according to the affidavit.

Defendants who are not in custody and their attorneys never use that door, the affidavit says.

That allegedly helped Flores-Ruiz leave the building using an elevator.

What does Dugan say about the allegations?

Nothing yet.

“The judicial code of conduct restricts judges from commenting on pending or impending matters in any court. Judge Dugan’s court calendar will be covered by another judge as needed,” District One Chief Judge Carl Ashley said in a statement.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat, said the arrest “was clearly more about hype than it was keeping our community safe.”

ICE agents are making arrests in courthouses

Under guidance issued Jan. 21, ICE officers and agents may carry out immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses if they believe someone they are trying to find will be there.

They are generally required to let their internal legal office know ahead of time to make sure there are no legal restrictions, and they are supposed to carry out enforcement actions in non-public areas whenever possible, coordinate with court security and try minimize the impact on court operations. They are also to avoid doing so in places that are not used for criminal proceedings, such as family court.

Immigration advocates say letting ICE enter courthouses for arrests intimidates crime victims and witnesses who are in the country illegally.

ICE counter say that in communities that do not notify the agency when jails or prisons are releasing deportable immigrants, they have to find other ways to track them down. ICE also says courthouse arrests are usually safer for agents because people there have generally been searched for weapons.

What happens next?

Dugan has a court date of May 15, this time as a defendant.

Outside the courthouse Friday, dozens of protesters gathered to support Dugan. Some warned that the arrest of the judge could discourage people from reporting a crime or even reporting a fire for fear they themselves could be detained.

“These actions are transparently meant to be chilling, cruel and undermining the rule of law,” said Melinda Brennan, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin.

Brian Schimming, chair of the state Republican Party, said via social media that the arrest shows that “nobody’s above the law, even judges.”

But Republicans in the state Assembly, where they have majority control, said in a statement that the charges against Dugan are “serious, deeply troubling, and strike at the core of public trust.”