A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A Milwaukee County judge will be arraigned today, accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities. She was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury. Her case has become another flash point in the Trump administration's deportation efforts. Here's Maayan Silver from member station WUWM.
MAAYAN SILVER, BYLINE: The judge in this case, Hannah Dugan, is accused of concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstructing a proceeding. She allegedly directed a Mexican citizen defendant out of her courtroom as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to arrest him. The federal charges came as the Trump administration ramped up efforts to use ICE to carry out courthouse arrests. Democratic Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson sees it as a broader attempt to bully judges into complying with Trump's agenda.
CHRIS LARSON: The idea that they needed to sneak up on her and handcuff her, arrest her, shackle her and then perp walk her out of the county courthouse, all while taking pictures and then posting those, kind of gives the hint that they are looking to try and make an example of Hannah.
SILVER: Rick Esenberg, attorney for the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, says he's wary of using criminal law for political purposes. But he says here it's possible to argue that Judge Dugan crossed an ethical line.
RICK ESENBERG: You can think that we shouldn't have the immigration laws that we have. But the answer to that isn't a state court judge interposing herself to interfere with federal law enforcement.
SILVER: Lawyers for Judge Dugan have filed a motion to dismiss the case against her. Whether or not that is granted, Wisconsin criminal defense attorney Tony Cotton says she has one of the best lawyers in the country on her defense team, in Paul Clement. He's argued dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and was a former solicitor general under President George W. Bush. Cotton also notes Dugan's case is scheduled to go before Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee.
TONY COTTON: Judge Adelman is somebody who frequently holds the government accountable because he has tons of courage. He has absolutely no problem doing the right thing.
SILVER: Judge Dugan is expected to plead not guilty at today's arraignment.
For NPR News, I'm Maayan Silver in Milwaukee.
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