The prosecution of Judge Hannah Dugan is unprecedented.

It has raised alarms by people throughout the country who value the founding principles of our country, support the rule of law, believe in protecting constitutional rights, seek due process of law, and who rely on an independent judiciary to carry out these principles without fear or favor. 

Judge Hannah Dugan deserves a full and aggressive defense. Your support will help ensure she receives it.

On April 25, 2025, Judge Hannah Dugan, a sitting judge duly elected by the citizens of Milwaukee County arrived at work to hear cases and apply the rule of law so that justice could be served for litigants, parties, victims, witnesses, and the public’s protection and safety.

Instead, upon entering the courthouse, FBI agents confronted Judge Dugan, arrested her, handcuffed her, and led her away to an unmarked car headed to the federal courthouse.

Federal officials captured this staged moment in a photograph of Judge Dugan being led away in handcuffs to document the spectacle — and, critically, to send a message to other members of the judiciary.

This arrest looks like a clear plan to intimidate the judiciary. First, within minutes of the arrest and before she even arrived at the federal courthouse. the FBI Director himself posted the photo of the handcuffed judge. Second, the FBI Director’s post was followed by the U.S. Attorney’s post about the arrest, including assertions that were meant to threaten the judiciary.

No warrant was presented, no indictment sought, no summons served. Instead, the arrest was based on an incomplete complaint drafted after a six-day investigation of an alleged obstruction of ICE agents in the courthouse one week before.

At the federal courthouse, Judge Dugan was shackled at her ankles and placed alone in a holding cell. She later was required to shuffle through the federal courthouse corridors in handcuffs and ankle shackles to a courtroom where she was provided for the first time with the complaint against her.

This arrest and humiliating treatment of a sitting judge is unprecedented in American history.

Judge Dugan is being prosecuted simply for doing her job. This federal prosecution shakes the very foundation of judicial independence. It is an attempt to interfere with and to prevent a state judge's clear authority to run state proceedings in a courtroom to which she was elected. It seeks to criminalize the official actions and duties of a state court judge. 

Wisconsin's sovereignty is threatened by the arrest and prosecution of a state judge, and act which was never intended by Congress or the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

Judge Dugan’s case is now before a federal judge in Milwaukee, yet it has captured national and international attention about and concern for America’s democratic institutions. As a test of the independence of the judiciary and the sovereignty of the states from federal interference, the charges present legal issues unique to a member of the judiciary and the prosecution of Judge Dugan poses a host of new questions of law. 

Judge Dugan must mount a thorough and aggressive defense with a team of legal representatives and must do so in a manner consistent with her judicial office, with judicial and state ethics codes, and with her personal and professional integrity. The Hannah Dugan Legal Defense Fund has been launched to raise the funds necessary for her defense, in strict compliance with the state’s requirements.