Judge upholds the conviction of former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for helping immigrant evade ICE

By — Scott Bauer, Associated Press Scott Bauer, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-upholds-the-conviction-of-former-wisconsin-judge-hannah-dugan-for-helping-immigrant-evade-ice Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Judge upholds the conviction of former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for helping immigrant evade ICE Politics Jun 17, 2026 4:14 PM EDT MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday declined to overturn a Wisconsin judge's obstruction of justice conviction for helping a man evade immigration officers who showed up at a courtroom looking to detain him. The case against Hannah Dugan, who resigned from the Milwaukee County Circuit Court following her conviction, was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Trump allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while her supporters said she was unfairly targeted. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman postponed Dugan's sentencing on June 3 to consider arguments about whether he should overturn her conviction. But Adelman said in his ruling Tuesday that Dugan's conviction would stand. He did not immediately set a sentencing date. "The court's decision is wrong," Dugan's legal defense team said in a statement. Questions about a similar case in Virginia Dugan's attorney had argued that her conviction in helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz leave the courthouse was invalid and should be overturned. He said that was necessary because a federal appeals court in April overturned a key Virginia immigration case that the judge and prosecutors had cited in Dugan's case. In the Virginia case, an immigrant who was in the country illegally was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later escaped. He was recaptured and indicted on a charge of obstructing a pending immigration proceeding. READ MORE: Who is Hannah Dugan, Milwaukee judge who was arrested? The federal appeals court found that the ICE action did not constitute a "pending proceeding," as is required under the federal obstruction law. Dugan's attorneys argue that she should not have been charged because there was no "pending proceeding" against the immigrant in her courtroom being sought by ICE agents, only a warrant filed for his arrest. The filing of a warrant does not constitute a "proceeding" under the law, Dugan's attorneys argued. Prosecutors countered that the facts in the Virginia case are different and don't apply to Dugan's. They also argued that other cases support Dugan's conviction. READ MORE: Trial begins for Wisconsin judge charged with helping man evade immigration agents Adelman said the attempted arrest of Flores-Ruiz did count as a "pending proceeding," in part because it was a planned and targeted operation rather than an arrest resultin