Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was taken into custody on April 25th by the FBI, alleging that she had helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz evade immigration authorities a week earlier on April 18th. The FBI’s complaint says that Flores-Ruiz was in the courthouse for a scheduled hearing on his criminal case and federal agents had planned to arrest Flores-Ruiz after said hearing. After being notified of ICE’s presence, Judge Dugan confronted the arrest team and stated they needed a judicial warrant, rather than the administrative one they had. After directing the arrest team to the Chief Judge, the complaint alleges that Dugan returned to the courtroom, directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave through the non-public jury door, and adjourned his case without calling it or notifying the attorney handling the case on behalf of the state. Members of the arrest team who weren’t talking with the Chief Judge saw Flores-Ruiz leaving the jury room, and followed him onto the elevator and out of the courthouse. After a brief chase, members of the arrest team apprehended Flores-Ruiz outside of the courthouse. If you take the complaint at face value, the arrest may seem justified. But as is the case with a lot of the administration's actions, a little scrutiny goes a long way.
There are a couple of details in the complaint that are notable. When Judge Dugan confronted federal agents in the hallway, she asked if they had a judicial warrant. Once they told her they had an administrative warrant, she said they needed a judicial warrant and to go talk to the Chief Judge.
A judicial warrant, signed by a judge, authorizes law enforcement to perform an arrest or search on private property. An administrative warrant, which is usually signed by an immigration officer, does NOT.
In a courthouse, there are both private spaces (like the courtroom itself, or the jury room) and public ones (hallways for example). But this distinction is not 100% defined and is still being deliberated on by county officials. Federal agents even confirmed with the Chief Judge that hallways were indeed public areas and they could perform an arrest there on the day they attempted to arrest Flores-Ruiz. But then why didn’t they? Agents saw Flores-Ruiz leave the jury room and enter the public hallway, chose to follow him down the elevator (an agent was in the elevator with Flores-Ruiz), let him leave the building, and then conducted the arrest outside. While there’s a variety of reasons that they could’ve waited, if the federal agents were questioning whether or not they could conduct the arrest in the courthouse, how does Judge Dugan moving Flores-Ruiz into another room obstruct them at all? Especially considering the only way out of the courthouse is through the public hallway. There’s no “back door” as Attorney General Pam Bondi stated. They were on the sixth floor and the only elevators/stairs are in public areas, as the diagram below shows.
It’s perfectly plausible that after being informed of Flores-Ruiz’s imminent arrest, Judge Dugan pulled the man and his attorney into the jury room, informed them of the situation, and then told them to go into the hallway. Considering that Flores-Ruiz was about to be deported, Judge Dugan adjourned his hearing and moved onto the rest of the docket. While this last portion is speculative, smarter people than I have echoed similar thoughts, so take that as you will.
It also shouldn’t be understated that this arrest and the arrest of a former judge in New Mexico are pretty clear messages from the Trump administration to the Judicial branch as a whole. Instead of questioning Dugan beforehand or asking to turn herself in, the FBI slapped her in cuffs at the courthouse, tweeted a picture, and took her into custody. Only for her to be released from custody hours later. But don’t take it from me, or from lawyers who agree the arrest was highly unusual. Take it from Pam Bondi herself, just hours after Dugan’s arrest; “I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law and they are not, and we're sending a very strong message today.”
FBI Director Kash Patel’s tweet
