Wisconsin Judge Threatens Boycott of Court After FBI Arrests Fellow Judge

Published: 4/28/2025, 2:47:21 PM EDT

Wisconsin Judge Threatens Boycott of Court After FBI Arrests Fellow Judge — An FBI agent walks toward a crime scene in a file photo. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A Wisconsin judge last week warned that she may not hold court after the FBI arrested another state judge, Hannah Dugan, on charges of allegedly helping an illegal immigrant escape federal officials.

In an emailed statement to other members of the state judiciary that was posted online over the weekend by local news Wisconsin Right Now, Sawyer County Judge Monica Isham wrote that she will effectively engage in a court-related boycott because Dugan “stood on her oath in the very building she swore to uphold and she was arrested and charged with felonies for it. Enough is enough.”

“I have no intention of allowing anyone to be taken out of my courtroom by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and sent to a concentration camp, especially without due process as BOTH the constitutions we swore to support requires,” Isham added.

Isham did not further explain her “concentration camp” comment.

“If there is no guidance and support for us … I will not put myself or my staff who may feel compelled to help me or my community in harms way,” she wrote.

“If this costs me my job or gets me arrested, then at least I know I did the right thing.”

Dugan was arrested on April 25 and charged with obstruction of an official proceeding after an FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit that the judge allegedly assisted an illegal immigrant in evading ICE and other federal agents. She was also charged with concealing a person to prevent his arrest and discovery.

In an incident on April 18, agents with ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI appeared at the courthouse where Dugan was slated to hold a hearing in the misdemeanor domestic battery case of Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. The agents intended to detain Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant.

The criminal complaint stated that Dugan demanded that the agents speak with the Milwaukee County Circuit Court’s top judge and later allegedly escorted Flores-Ruiz out of the courtroom via a jury door into a secluded area before he left. Agents later arrested him outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase, the complaint added.

A lawyer for Dugan, Craig Mastantuono, said in an April 25 court hearing that Dugan “wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest, accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using “dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.”

“I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law,” he said.

The Epoch Times has contacted an assistant for Isham and the Justice Department for comment.

In response to Isham’s letter, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon wrote on social media platform X that it’s “problematic,” without elaborating.

Dugan’s arrest came a day after a former New Mexico judge and his wife were arrested for allegedly harboring an accused Tren de Aragua gang member and for allegedly destroying a phone that contained evidence of violent crimes, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.