Do you remember former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan? She was accused of assisting Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant from Mexico facing state domestic violence charges, in escaping through a side door of the courthouse in April 2025 to evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, an incident that was famously captured on video. Dugan argued that she was “immune” from prosecution due to her position, but that defense did not hold up in court.
In December 2025, a federal jury found her guilty of felony obstruction. Following her conviction, the Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily suspended her in April 2025, and she ultimately retired in January 2026.
Now, her situation worsened when a federal judge denied her request to have the conviction overturned:
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman on April 6 issued a 39-page order, denying an appeal by Dugan’s legal team and also rejecting the claim that she is immune from such prosecution.
“After surveying the caselaw, I concluded that there is no general rule of criminal immunity for judges, nor was there a basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment described conduct that could be considered ‘part of a judge’s job,'” Adelman wrote.
? BREAKING: A court has officially THROWN OUT disgraced leftist Judge Hannah Dugan's appeal of her felony conviction where she tried to help an illegal alien escape DHS agents to avoid deportation
GOOD! LOCK UP the traitor ?
She helped an illegal SCURRY out the back door, but… pic.twitter.com/AgpfG5oatQ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 6, 2026
She helped an illegal SCURRY out the back door, but security cameras captured the whole thing. There’s no running from this one.
Because she’s a raging leftist, Dugan argued that she is somehow above the law:
Dugan filed the motion to dismiss, arguing that she had “absolute judicial immunity” and that the prosecution violated the Constitution’s separation of powers by “intruding on the authority of state judges to manage their own courtrooms and proceedings.”
Yeah, no. Judge Adelman responded dismissively in his ruling on Monday, stating clearly that there is no “general rule of criminal immunity for judges.” He also contended that Dugan acted outside her normal duties by assisting Ruiz in his escape.
Democrats were outraged over the prosecution, as was the liberal press, even as they consistently proclaim that “no one is above the law.” It seems, however, that this principle does not apply to them.
Meanwhile, Dugan’s legal team vowed to continue pursuing her “above the law” claim:
“We continue to maintain that Hannah Dugan acted lawfully and within her independent authority as a judge,” the statement said. “The inconsistent jury verdicts demonstrate that the trial proceedings were flawed, and we plan to appeal.”
