Judge hit with felony for helping migrant loses dismissal attempt

A federal judge has refused to stop the criminal case against Judge Hannah Dugan, a Wisconsin judge who allowed an undocumented immigrant and his lawyer to use a jury door to leave the courtroom rather than the courtroom door. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting outside the court.

Dugan was charged with federal felony counts of obstruction and concealing an individual and arrested by the FBI. She tried to have the case dismissed, saying that she has immunity as it was part of her job as a judge.

"There is no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered 'part of the judge's job,'" wrote Judge Lynn Adelman in the ruling. "As the magistrate judge noted, the same is true in the bribery prosecutions, concededly valid, where the judges were prosecuted for performing official acts intertwined with bribery."

Read the full court ruling here.