Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan is accused of helping the man through a back door during an arrest attempt.

A judge in the US state of Wisconsin has been charged for allegedly helping a Mexican man evade immigration officials through a back door during an arrest attempt.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested in April. Now a federal grand jury has approved the two charges against her, which could see the judge face a prison term.

It marks a further escalation of Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown on immigration, and has provoked an outcry from Democrats, who accuse the Trump administration of attacking the judicial system.

  • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    15 days ago

    While this is a serious escalation of the regime’s conduct towards the judiciary by punitively charging a judge for actions taken in her own courtroom during an active trial, a grand jury indictment ultimately means nothing, as it always has - they get to present an entirely one-sided opinion.

    As NY Judge Sol Wachtler said, “If a district attorney wanted, a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich.”

    During a grand jury proceeding, the [prosecuting] U.S. Attorney presents its case to the grand jury; there is no judge present, and the target of the investigation is not present… Thus, the prosecutor is the only party who controls what the grand jury hears.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      31·
      15 days ago

      Yep. Grand jury results are only meaningful when they decline, and that’s because the prosecutor probably threw the case.