Former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine after being convicted of a felony for obstructing federal immigration agents.

前密爾沃基縣巡迴法院法官 Hannah Dugan 因被判定犯有阻撓聯邦移民探員的重罪，被命令支付 5,000 美元的罰金。

The case began on April 18, 2025, when ICE agents tried to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national, at the Milwaukee County courthouse. Evidence shows that Judge Dugan questioned the legality of the arrest warrant and sent the agents to the chief judge's office. Meanwhile, she helped Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer leave through a private door. Although this led to a short chase, the man was eventually caught and deported. Consequently, Dugan was convicted of felony obstruction in December, although she was found not guilty of a separate charge for hiding a person to prevent their arrest.

此案始於 2025 年 4 月 18 日，當時 ICE 探員嘗試在密爾沃基縣法院逮捕一名墨西哥國民 Eduardo Flores-Ruiz。證據顯示，Dugan 法官質疑逮捕令的合法性，並將探員指引至首席法官的辦公室。與此同時，她協助 Mr. Flores-Ruiz 及其律師經一扇私人門離開。雖然這導致了一場短暫的追逐，但該男子最終被捕並被驅逐出境。因此，Dugan 於 12 月被判定犯有重罪阻撓罪，儘管她在另一項隱藏他人以防止逮捕的指控中被裁定無罪。

There was a clear disagreement between the two legal sides. The prosecution argued that Dugan's actions violated her judicial oath and threatened public safety; therefore, they suggested a prison sentence of 15 to 21 months. On the other hand, the defense claimed that the government was trying to force judges to follow strict immigration policies. This argument followed Dugan's resignation in January, which happened after Republican lawmakers threatened to remove her from office, calling her an 'activist judge.'

法律雙方存在明顯的分歧。檢方主張 Dugan 的行為違反了其司法誓詞並威脅公共安全；因此，他們建議判處 15 至 21 個月的監禁。另一方面，辯方聲稱政府正試圖強迫法官遵守嚴格的移民政策。這一論點是在 Dugan 於 1 月辭職後提出的，而其辭職是因為共和黨議員指責其為「激進法官」並威脅將其撤職。

When deciding the sentence, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman focused on the defendant's long history of public service rather than the specific crime. The court noted that the obstruction did not actually stop the arrest. Furthermore, the judge stated that Dugan had already suffered significant consequences, such as losing her professional reputation and facing security threats. Because of these factors and positive testimony from academic and religious leaders, the judge decided to ignore the standard federal sentencing guidelines.

在決定量刑時，美國地方法官 Lynn Adelman 側重於被告長期以來對公共服務的貢獻，而非具體的罪行。法院指出，此次阻撓實際上並未阻止逮捕。此外，法官表示 Dugan 已經承受了重大後果，例如失去專業聲譽並面臨安全威脅。基於這些因素以及學術和宗教領袖的正面證詞，法官決定不採納標準的聯邦量刑指南。

Judge Dugan will not go to prison and will pay a $5,000 fine, however, her legal team has stated that they plan to appeal the conviction.

Dugan 法官將不需要入獄，僅需支付 5,000 美元罰金，然而其法律團隊表示計劃就定罪結果提出上訴。