No one is above the law. From the Associated Press (AP),
Wisconsin judge accused of helping man evade ICE arrest loses a bid to drop charges.
So, the federal case against state judge Hannah Dugan will move forward. The AP reports on the case against Judge Dugan,
She was arrested at the county courthouse in April and indicted on federal charges in May. She quickly filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and is therefore immune from prosecution.
However, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on Tuesday rejected that argument and upheld the July recommendation of a magistrate judge who also ruled that the case could proceed.
The backstory,
Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him for being in the country without permanent legal status.
Or even temporary legal status. Or any legal status, according to federal court documents. In the event, Mr. Flores didn’t get very far.
Back in June, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported,
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant at the center of the case against Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, will plead guilty to having entered the U.S. illegally after being deported in 2013, according to federal court records.
Based on my experience in following such cases in Minnesota, that’s a federal felony conviction. At this point, Flores may have already been deported to his native Mexico.
The state case involving Flores included three counts of domestic abuse/battery. If Flores is still in America, he is due back in Federal court on September 4, with state court dates scheduled for September and October.
