On Friday, April 25, 2025, Politico reported that the recent arrest of Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan in an immigration dispute echoed a notable case from 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term. In that earlier incident, Massachusetts state District Court Judge Shelley Joseph and a court officer faced accusations of assisting an undocumented immigrant in evading federal authorities at the Newton District Court in Newton, Massachusetts.
The 2018 case centered on an immigrant who had been arrested on narcotics charges and had previously been deported from the United States twice, according to federal prosecutors. Authorities alleged that Judge Joseph and the court officer helped the individual exit the courthouse through a non-public route, preventing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer from detaining him. This led to federal charges against Joseph, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. She entered a not guilty plea.
The case drew significant attention. Then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, now the state’s Democratic governor, described the charges as a politically driven assault on the state’s judicial system. Joseph’s attorney, Thomas Hoopes, further accused then-U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling of political bias, citing an op-ed Lelling wrote for the Boston Herald and alleging he leaked confidential details to the press.
Unlike the 2025 Wisconsin case, where the judge was arrested, Joseph voluntarily surrendered to authorities. Federal prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against her in 2022. Instead, the matter was referred to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct, a state body responsible for investigating judicial misconduct. In late 2024, the commission took the rare step of filing formal charges against Joseph with Massachusetts’ highest court, marking only the sixth such action by the commission since 2000.
The 2018 case highlighted tensions between the Trump administration and the judiciary, particularly over immigration enforcement. It raised questions about the balance of federal and state authority and the independence of the courts. While the charges against Joseph were dropped, the referral to the state’s judicial oversight body underscored the lasting repercussions of the incident. The similarities to the 2025 Wisconsin case, where Judge Dugan was also accused of obstructing federal immigration efforts, suggest ongoing conflicts between judicial and executive powers.
Source: Politico
