XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, misc.legal, alt.politics.immigration   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has denied a motion to dismiss the   
   federal case against Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan, clearing the way   
   for a trial on charges she obstructed immigration officers who came to her   
   courtroom to make an arrest.   
      
   In the crucial, long-awaited ruling, Adelman turned back the arguments of   
   Dugan's high-powered legal team that the judge was immune from prosecution   
   and that the case was an example of judicial overreach.   
      
   Adelman's ruling agrees with the report of U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy   
   Joseph, who recommended in early July that the Dugan case should not be   
   dismissed.   
      
   "There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the   
   allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered   
   'part of the judge's job,'" Adelman wrote in the 27-page ruling.   
      
   "As the magistrate judge noted, the same is true in the bribery   
   prosecutions, concededly valid, where the judges were prosecuted for   
   performing official acts intertwined with bribery."   
      
   Adelman, 85, was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and is   
   considered among the most liberal federal judges in the nation.   
      
   The case against Dugan has highlighted the escalating tension between the   
   nation's judges and the Trump administration as it advances a crackdown   
   against undocumented immigrants.   
      
   In his decision, Adelman rejected the defense's attempt to tie this case   
   to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sided with President Donald   
   Trump's argument that he was immune from prosecution when he acted in his   
   official capacity.   
      
   Adelman also rejected Dugan's argument that her arrest and prosecution was   
   a violation of the separation between state and federal powers under the   
   U.S. Constitution.   
      
   But the judge did say that Dugan raised "some very real concerns" about   
   judicial immunity.   
      
   "She wonders why, if official acts enjoy no immunity, a judge could not be   
   prosecuted for handling contraband during a trial or scheduling a hearing   
   in a manner that inconveniences federal law enforcement," Adelman wrote.   
   He then wondered could a state judge be charged for ordering an   
   undocumented immigrant into custody, thwarting a planned arrest by federal   
   immigration officials.   
      
   The response by federal prosecutors on this issue, Adelman wrote, was   
   "unsatisfying."   
      
   Adelman scheduled a hearing at 11 a.m. Sept. 3, 2025, in his courtroom in   
   downtown Milwaukee. Dugan will not appear.   
      
   Adelman said earlier he will want to know at such a hearing if there will   
   be an appeal. An appeal would go to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals,   
   which covers cases from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and is   
   headquartered in Chicago.   
      
   An appeal would freeze the process until the higher court rules, putting   
   off a trial to 2026.   
      
   However, if Dugan's team doesn't appeal, a trial could be scheduled   
   sooner, possibly later this year.   
      
   In a statement, Dugan's legal team said, “While we’re disappointed by this   
   decision, we look forward to the trial, which will show Judge Dugan did   
   nothing wrong and simply treated this case like any other in front of her   
   courtroom."   
      
   The statement did not make clear whether Dugan plans to appeal the   
   decision.   
      
   The U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to requests for   
   comment.   
      
   Dugan is currently suspended with pay by order of the Wisconsin Supreme   
   Court.   
      
   Joseph issued her report after Dugan's attorneys filed a motion to   
   dismiss, saying the judges are immune from prosecution when acting in   
   their official capacity. Adelman cited Joseph's report several times in   
   his ruling.   
      
   Dugan is accused of helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant   
   charged with battery, elude federal immigration officers in April 2025.   
      
   Dugan was indicted in May and pleaded not guilty. A trial was scheduled   
   for July but was canceled as the motion to dismiss advanced.   
      
   Federal prosecutors backed Joseph's recommendation, saying the defense was   
   mischaracterizing previous court decisions. They also argued that the   
   criminal charges arose from her "unilateral, non-judicial and unofficial   
   actions outside the role of a Wisconsin state judge."   
      
   Dugan was indicted May 13 on charges she obstructed a federal agency and   
   tried to help undocumented immigrant Flores-Ruiz escape federal agents at   
   the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18.   
      
   Flores-Ruiz, 31, was taken into custody following a chase outside the   
   courthouse. Federal officials say Flores-Ruiz illegally re-entered the   
   United States from Mexico after being deported.   
      
   FBI agents later arrested Dugan at the courthouse, making her a high-   
   profile example of the clash between the Trump administration and the   
   judiciary.   
      
   Dugan, 66, pleaded not guilty to the felony and misdemeanor charges she   
   faces. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison, but first-time   
   nonviolent offenders typically get shorter sentences or probation.   
      
   Flores-Ruiz has agreed to plead guilty to having entered the U.S.   
   illegally after being deported in 2013, according to federal court   
   records. His misdemeanor battery case is set for trial later this year.   
      
   https://eu.jsonline.com/story/news/2025/08/26/federal-judge-denies-motion-   
   to-dismiss-case-against-judge-hannah-dugan/85427726007/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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