The Wisconsin Supreme Court chose not to suspend the law license of former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on Wednesday.
Instead, Dugan will have a full hearing before any law license suspension can occur.
The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation had asked the court to summarily suspend Dugan’s law license after her felony conviction on obstruction, which is defined as a “serious crime.”
After the office’s July request to suspend Dugan’s law license, Dugan filed a response opposing the motion.
Justices Brian Hagedorn and Annette Ziegler dissented.
“These charges concerned then-Judge Dugan, in her capacity as a circuit court judge, wearing a judicial robe, at the courthouse, obstructing federal agents,” Ziegler wrote in her dissent. “I am confounded by our court’s inaction. But that inaction does not dictate that the OLR must wait to proceed.”
Dugan was fined $5,000 but avoided prison at her July 8 sentencing after she was found guilty of obstruction by a jury in December. She was accused of obstructing the arrest of a defendant in her court by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers outside of her courtroom.
Dugan resigned from her Milwaukee County judge role after her conviction. Her resignation came after Wisconsin Assembly leaders threatened to impeach her.
The jury found Dugan not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of concealing related to defendant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was later arrested on the street outside the courthouse and has since been deported.
The obstruction conviction could have led to up to five years in prison.
