A Wisconsin judge who helped an illegal alien escape from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced she would be resigning from her position in response to “unprecedented federal legal proceedings” brought against her.
Matt Smith, the political director with WISN 12 News, shared a letter addressed to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) from Milwaukee Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on X. In her letter, Dugan expressed that the citizens of Wisconsin “deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31.”
“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary,” Dugan said. “I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary. However, the Wisconsin citizens that I cherish deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 31 rather than have the fate of that Court rest in a partisan fight in the state legislature.”
Dugan continued on to state that it was “with a heavy heart” that she was submitting “this letter of resignation.”
“My faith in God and in our legal system leads me to trust that in the long run justice will be served for our independent judiciary and for me,” Dugan added.
Dugan’s letter comes after a Milwaukee jury in December convicted Dugan after she “escorted” Eduardo Flores Ruiz, an illegal migrant, “out of her courtroom.” The conviction was a result of “obstructing an official proceeding” by helping Flores Ruiz evade ICE officials.
While Dugan is facing “as much as five years in prison” regarding her conviction, “as a first-time offender, she is expected to receive little to no time in prison,” according to the New York Times.