Hannah Dugan, the Milwaukee County judge arrested Friday by the FBI for allegedly obstructing federal authorities who were seeking to detain an undocumented immigrant, was a longtime social justice advocate before she took the bench.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security suggested in a statement that Dugan is an “activist judge.” A statement issued on the judge’s behalf following her dramatic arrest said Dugan “has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge.”
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Dugan was hit with a criminal complaint Friday alleging that on April 18, she helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his attorney exit her courtroom when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up to arrest a man they said was an undocumented immigrant.
Her alleged actions were cheered by immigration advocates who rallied outside of the courthouse, with speakers leading the protesters in chants of “due process is not negotiable” and “drop the charges.”
“We see nothing wrong with what she did,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera. She said her organization knows the judge as someone who defends people in the court system. “She’s someone who acted on her conscience and was standing up for due process rights for herself and others,” she said.
Dugan was born in 1959, according to the criminal complaint against her, and was first elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2016. She was re-elected to a second six-year term in 2022. The court’s website says she presides over misdemeanor cases.
“Justice is hard work. I love the challenge of such hard work,” she told the Milwaukee Independent in a 2016 profile.
Dugan has a bachelor of arts degree in legal studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in American studies from Boston College, according to a biography on Ballotpedia.
She earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and afterward worked in Milwaukee for the Legal Aid Society, which provides services for people who can’t afford lawyers.
“As a Legal Aid attorney I would listen for other legal concerns besides the reason a client would ask for representation. So while my client representation might have started with a ticket, it could also include housing, public benefits, family, or consumer issue and representation,” Dugan told the Milwaukee Independent.
She went on to a head up a domestic violence project “addressing the civil legal issues that are hurdles for persons attempting to leave unsafe situations” and worked on an elder law project, she told the website.
Dugan later performed work for nonprofit organizations in the Milwaukee area and served a stint as executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, according the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A part of the group’s mission is assisting refugees in settling in the U.S.
“Nonprofit work is a great avenue to work for justice,” she told the Independent.
She later became interim director of Milwaukee’s Social Development Commission, an anti-poverty agency, and served on the board of the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee, the Journal Sentinel reported.
In her interview with the Independent, Dugan spoke out about her faith in the rule of law.
“The rule of law is how we address our social issues, how we address our disputes, but also how we grow as people,” she said.
Dugan appeared before a federal magistrate judge on the recent charges on Friday and was released pending her next hearing on May 15.
Ryan J. Reilly and Michael Kosnar contributed.
