Wisconsin
Judge convicted of obstructing arrest of immigrant resigns as GOP threatens impeachment
Embattled Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of obstruction last month for helping an immigrant evade federal officers, has sent her resignation letter to the governor.
The letter was sent Saturday. Republicans had been making plans to impeach her ever since her Dec. 19 conviction. A spokesperson for Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said his office received Dugan’s letter, and he would work to fill the vacancy without delay.
Dugan wrote that over the past decade she handled thousands of cases with “a commitment to treat all persons with dignity and respect, to act justly, deliberately and consistently, and to maintain a courtroom with the decorum and safety the public deserves.”
But she said the case against her is too big of a distraction.
“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan said in her letter.
Last April, federal prosecutors accused Dugan of distracting federal officers trying to arrest a Mexican immigrant outside her courtroom and leading the man out through a private door. A federal jury convicted her of felony obstruction.
The case against Dugan was highlighted by President Donald Trump as he pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats insisted the administration was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation.
Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos praised Dugan’s decision.
“I’m glad Dugan did the right thing by resigning and followed the clear direction from the Wisconsin Constitution,” Vos said.
Democrat Ann Jacobs, who is chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission board, said she agreed with Dugan that Milwaukee should have a permanent judge in place while this fight plays out.
“Despite her situation, she is ever the champion of justice, wanting to remove the judiciary from a political battle over her fate. I’m sure this is terribly hard for her but she is true to her faith and her principles,” Jacobs said in a post on X.
On April 18, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the office of her boss, Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley, because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.
California
Appeals panel says ban on open carry in more populated counties is unconstitutional
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has ruled that a California law prohibiting open carry of firearms in heavily populated counties is unconstitutional.
The ruling was issued Friday by two judges on a three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges found that the state’s policy of limiting open carry to counties with a population of less than 200,000 is inconsistent with the Second Amendment.
“California’s legal regime is a complete ban on open carry in urban areas — the areas of the state where 95% of the people live,” they said in the decision.
The dissenting judge disagreed and said California could limit open carry in more populated areas because it allows for concealed carry throughout the state.
The ruling comes in a long-running debate over gun laws in the United States and in California, which has passed a series of restrictions.
It came after Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County resident, filed a lawsuit asking the courts to restore the historical practice of open carry being allowed.
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said he expected state officials will seek a review of the ruling by the full appeals court.
“It’s a very significant opinion,” Michel said, adding that a key question in the case is how a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights should be applied.
The press office for Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on social media that the state’s law was carefully crafted to comply with the Second Amendment.
“California just got military troops with weapons of war off of the streets of our cities, but now Republican activists on the Ninth Circuit want to replace them with gunslingers and return to the days of the Wild West,” the statement said.
Pennsylvania
Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces drug charges after New Year’s Day traffic stop
Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year’s Day.
Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.
Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.
“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.
Dykstra’s gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.
Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.
In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.
In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.
That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra’s lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.
And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.
Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.
“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
Georgia
Judge tosses landmark racketeering charges against ‘Cop City’ protesters
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge on Tuesday tossed racketeering charges against dozens of defendants accused of a yearslong conspiracy to halt the construction of a police and firefighter training facility that critics call “Cop City.”
Fulton County Judge Kevin Farmer said in the order that Republican Attorney General Chris Carr didn’t have the authority to secure the 2023 indictments under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Farmer said he needed permission from Gov. Brian Kemp.
Carr’s office said in a statement that they plan to appeal.
“We strongly disagree with this decision and will continue to vigorously pursue this domestic terrorism case to ensure that justice is served,” his office said.
The 61 defendants in what experts call the largest criminal racketeering case filed against protesters in U.S. history faced such allegations as throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers and providing protesters with food. Each defendant faced up to 20 years in prison on the racketeering charges.
Five of them have also been indicted on charges of domestic terrorism and first-degree arson related a night in 2023 when masked activists burned a police car in downtown Atlanta and threw rocks at a skyscraper home to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Farmer has said Carr also didn’t have the authority to pursue the arson charge but that the domestic terrorism charge can likely stand.
Amanda Clark Palmer, an attorney for one of the protesters, praised the judge’s decision, saying “the prosecution did not follow the law when filing these charges,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We are relieved the dismissal order has been entered but our relief is not complete yet as we wait to see whether the Attorney General will appeal,” Clark Palmer said in a statement.
The long-brewing controversy over the training center came to a head in January 2023 after state troopers who were part of a sweep of the South River Forest killed a 26-year-old activist, known as “Tortuguita,” who authorities said had fired at them while inside a tent near the construction site. A prosecutor found the troopers’ actions “ objectively reasonable.” Tortuguita’s family filed a lawsuit, saying his hands were in the air and that troopers used excessive force when they initially fired pepper balls into the tent.
Protests erupted, with masked vandals sometimes attacking police vehicles and construction equipment to stall the project and intimidate contractors into backing out. Opponents also pursued such civic paths to halt the facility as packing City Council meetings and leading a large-scale referendum effort that got tied up in the courts.
Carr, who is running for governor, had pursued the case. Kemp hailed it as an important step to combat “out-of-state radicals that threaten the safety of our citizens and law enforcement.”
Critics had called the indictment a politically motivated, heavy-handed attempt to quash the movement against the 85-acre (34-hectare) project that ultimately cost more than $115 million.
Judge convicted of obstructing arrest of immigrant resigns as GOP threatens impeachment
Embattled Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted of obstruction last month for helping an immigrant evade federal officers, has sent her resignation letter to the governor.
The letter was sent Saturday. Republicans had been making plans to impeach her ever since her Dec. 19 conviction. A spokesperson for Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said his office received Dugan’s letter, and he would work to fill the vacancy without delay.
Dugan wrote that over the past decade she handled thousands of cases with “a commitment to treat all persons with dignity and respect, to act justly, deliberately and consistently, and to maintain a courtroom with the decorum and safety the public deserves.”
But she said the case against her is too big of a distraction.
“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan said in her letter.
Last April, federal prosecutors accused Dugan of distracting federal officers trying to arrest a Mexican immigrant outside her courtroom and leading the man out through a private door. A federal jury convicted her of felony obstruction.
The case against Dugan was highlighted by President Donald Trump as he pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats insisted the administration was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation.
Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos praised Dugan’s decision.
“I’m glad Dugan did the right thing by resigning and followed the clear direction from the Wisconsin Constitution,” Vos said.
Democrat Ann Jacobs, who is chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission board, said she agreed with Dugan that Milwaukee should have a permanent judge in place while this fight plays out.
“Despite her situation, she is ever the champion of justice, wanting to remove the judiciary from a political battle over her fate. I’m sure this is terribly hard for her but she is true to her faith and her principles,” Jacobs said in a post on X.
On April 18, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.
Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the office of her boss, Milwaukee County Chief Judge Carl Ashley, because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.
After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.
California
Appeals panel says ban on open carry in more populated counties is unconstitutional
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has ruled that a California law prohibiting open carry of firearms in heavily populated counties is unconstitutional.
The ruling was issued Friday by two judges on a three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judges found that the state’s policy of limiting open carry to counties with a population of less than 200,000 is inconsistent with the Second Amendment.
“California’s legal regime is a complete ban on open carry in urban areas — the areas of the state where 95% of the people live,” they said in the decision.
The dissenting judge disagreed and said California could limit open carry in more populated areas because it allows for concealed carry throughout the state.
The ruling comes in a long-running debate over gun laws in the United States and in California, which has passed a series of restrictions.
It came after Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County resident, filed a lawsuit asking the courts to restore the historical practice of open carry being allowed.
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said he expected state officials will seek a review of the ruling by the full appeals court.
“It’s a very significant opinion,” Michel said, adding that a key question in the case is how a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights should be applied.
The press office for Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on social media that the state’s law was carefully crafted to comply with the Second Amendment.
“California just got military troops with weapons of war off of the streets of our cities, but now Republican activists on the Ninth Circuit want to replace them with gunslingers and return to the days of the Wild West,” the statement said.
Pennsylvania
Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces drug charges after New Year’s Day traffic stop
Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year’s Day.
Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.
Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.
Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.
“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.
Dykstra’s gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.
Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.
In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.
In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.
That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra’s lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.
And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.
Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.
“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.
Georgia
Judge tosses landmark racketeering charges against ‘Cop City’ protesters
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge on Tuesday tossed racketeering charges against dozens of defendants accused of a yearslong conspiracy to halt the construction of a police and firefighter training facility that critics call “Cop City.”
Fulton County Judge Kevin Farmer said in the order that Republican Attorney General Chris Carr didn’t have the authority to secure the 2023 indictments under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Farmer said he needed permission from Gov. Brian Kemp.
Carr’s office said in a statement that they plan to appeal.
“We strongly disagree with this decision and will continue to vigorously pursue this domestic terrorism case to ensure that justice is served,” his office said.
The 61 defendants in what experts call the largest criminal racketeering case filed against protesters in U.S. history faced such allegations as throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers and providing protesters with food. Each defendant faced up to 20 years in prison on the racketeering charges.
Five of them have also been indicted on charges of domestic terrorism and first-degree arson related a night in 2023 when masked activists burned a police car in downtown Atlanta and threw rocks at a skyscraper home to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Farmer has said Carr also didn’t have the authority to pursue the arson charge but that the domestic terrorism charge can likely stand.
Amanda Clark Palmer, an attorney for one of the protesters, praised the judge’s decision, saying “the prosecution did not follow the law when filing these charges,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We are relieved the dismissal order has been entered but our relief is not complete yet as we wait to see whether the Attorney General will appeal,” Clark Palmer said in a statement.
The long-brewing controversy over the training center came to a head in January 2023 after state troopers who were part of a sweep of the South River Forest killed a 26-year-old activist, known as “Tortuguita,” who authorities said had fired at them while inside a tent near the construction site. A prosecutor found the troopers’ actions “ objectively reasonable.” Tortuguita’s family filed a lawsuit, saying his hands were in the air and that troopers used excessive force when they initially fired pepper balls into the tent.
Protests erupted, with masked vandals sometimes attacking police vehicles and construction equipment to stall the project and intimidate contractors into backing out. Opponents also pursued such civic paths to halt the facility as packing City Council meetings and leading a large-scale referendum effort that got tied up in the courts.
Carr, who is running for governor, had pursued the case. Kemp hailed it as an important step to combat “out-of-state radicals that threaten the safety of our citizens and law enforcement.”
Critics had called the indictment a politically motivated, heavy-handed attempt to quash the movement against the 85-acre (34-hectare) project that ultimately cost more than $115 million.
