The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a judge accused of assisting a man in evading immigration authorities.
The FBI arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday morning at the county courthouse. She is charged with federal obstructing or impeding a proceeding, as well as concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.
In its two-page order, the state Supreme Court stated that it was acting on its own initiative rather than in response to anyone’s request. The court is controlled by liberal justices 4-3.
“In the exercise of that constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public’s confidence in the courts of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceedings against Judge Dugan, we conclude, in our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties,” the judge wrote.
When The Associated Press contacted her attorney, he had no immediate comment.
Last week, FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from the immigrant in question, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz.
Patel stated that Flores-Ruiz was later arrested and is currently in custody.
Dugan was charged with two counts of obstruction and released from detention last week after making his first appearance in federal court.
Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer from her courtroom through the jury door last week after discovering that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were present and seeking his arrest.
Court documents indicate that Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan was “visibly angry” when the agents arrived and referred to the situation as “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. According to witnesses, she and another judge approached arrest team members inside the courthouse with a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with officers about Flores-Ruiz’s warrant, she demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them out of the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
According to investigators, after directing the agents to the chief judge’s office, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying something like “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through the jury door into a nonpublic area.
According to the affidavit, the action was unusual in that only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury room door.”
Democrats have expressed outrage over Dugan’s arrests, accusing the Trump administration of attempting to chill the judiciary. On Saturday, demonstrators gathered outside the FBI’s Milwaukee field office to protest her arrest.
She is scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on May 15.