The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request to immediately suspend the law license of former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan, allowing the convicted felon to remain an attorney in good standing while a longer disciplinary process plays out.
In a two-page order filed Wednesday, the court said it had considered the Office of Lawyer Regulation’s motion for summary suspension and Dugan’s August 11 response opposing it. Exercising its discretion under Supreme Court Rule 22.20(1), the court concluded that an immediate suspension “is not warranted under the facts of this matter.” The OLR’s motion was denied.
Justices Brian Hagedorn and Annette Ziegler dissented, with Ziegler arguing the court had broken from its usual practice after a lawyer is convicted of a serious federal crime.
She pointed to the court’s recent decision in OLR v. Blomme (2022), in which justices summarily suspended a lawyer after a federal conviction and thereby expedited the disciplinary complaint.
“The federal crime that Attorney Dugan was convicted of is ‘corruptly endeavor[ing] to influence, obstruct, and impede the due and proper administration of the law under which a pending proceeding was being had before a department and agency of the United States,'” Ziegler wrote. “More specifically, these charges concerned then-Judge Dugan, wearing a judicial robe, at the courthouse, obstructing federal agents. I am confounded by our court’s inaction. But that inaction does not dictate that the OLR must wait to proceed.”
A federal jury in December 2025 found Dugan guilty of felony obstruction of a federal proceeding after an April 18, 2025, incident at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Immigration agents had arrived to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was appearing before Dugan on state battery charges and was in the country illegally. Prosecutors said Dugan confronted the agents in the hallway, directed them to the chief judge’s office, then led Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out a non-public side door.
I am confounded by our court’s inaction. But that inaction does not dictate that the OLR must wait to proceed.
Justice Annette Ziegler
Agents arrested him outside shortly afterward. The jury acquitted Dugan of a related misdemeanor concealment charge.
Dugan was sentenced in July to a $5,000 fine and no prison time. She has appealed the conviction to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. After the verdict she resigned her judgeship; the state Supreme Court had already suspended her from the bench pending the criminal case. She has been licensed to practice law in Wisconsin since 1987.
The court’s denial of summary suspension does not end the matter. The Office of Lawyer Regulation may still file a formal disciplinary complaint and pursue a full proceeding that could result in suspension, revocation or other sanctions. Dugan’s license remains active for now.
