Commentary
In November, I was critical of the slow actions of justice. Like me, you’ve probably forgotten all about a particular case when out of the blue it appears in the news again, but even then, a sentencing date is often yet to be announced.
I understand how murder trials can take years. The case against Nick Reiner, who allegedly murdered his parents, isn’t expected to go to trial until 2027.
It’s those cases I view as slam dunks that linger in the court system that irritate me. Coincidentally, two such cases are back in the news. Both dealing with the obstruction of ICE officers. Both involving individuals we expect to uphold the law.
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” – Benjamin Franklin
Nine months ago, on April 18, 2025, Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested after helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz avoid plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who were trying to serve him a warrant. Prosecutors said Dugan helped Flores-Ruiz and his attorney exit her courtroom through a back door after learning that ICE agents were in the building to arrest him.
Earlier this month, a jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing immigration agents during that attempt to serve a warrant.
While she faces up to five years in prison on this, a felony count, no sentencing date has been set.
In May, New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver was charged in a three-count indictment with assaulting law enforcement officers outside an ICE detention facility, a move she claimed to be “purely political,” as if her protest wasn’t.
“These charges have always been about politics,” McIver said. Adding that she will not be deterred from doing the work the people of New Jersey elected her to do.”
“If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote. “We thank our brave ICE law enforcement officers for their service to this great nation.”
The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of New Jersey stated that McIver “forcibly impeded and interfered with federal officers” as they tried to arrest an individual outside the facility.
While McIver pleaded not guilty to the charges in June, her case is pending trial.
You need to know that it isn’t only lawmakers and judges who have been anti-ICE activists. Attorneys have become activists, too. Abbe Lowell, who most recently represented Hunter Biden, said:
“Judge Dugan’s arrest and prosecution are a blatant attack on judicial independence. By targeting a state judge for her courtroom management, this Administration is signaling its alarming willingness to coerce state courts into executing its federal immigration agenda – an unacceptable assault on federalism and a grave threat to the public’s trust in our court system. Protecting judges from such intimidation is paramount to upholding the rule of law for every American.”
Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, and a regular on MSNOW, declared, “this case is a five-alarm fire for our democracy and one of its foundations: judicial independence. Prosecuting a judge for how she runs her courtroom is outrageous and unlawful.”
I thought nobody was above the law.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
