As you already know, Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested — and in a way that would maximize her humiliation AND intimidate judges everywhere. It has not and will not deter judges from ruling according to the Constitution and the law. More on legal developments below.

The next step in the judicial process for Judge Dugan is her arraignment at the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse on Thursday, May 15. Hannah has been a long-time member of Grassroots North Shore and regularly attends our events. Grassroots North Shore is co-sponsoring the Defend Our Democracy: Protect Our Freedoms rally outside the courthouse (517 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee) from 7:30am to 10:30am. So we need to show her some extra love. Please join the democracy defense watch outside her arraignment. We demand that the charges be dropped and that Judge Dugan be freed so she can return to presiding in her courtroom.

The Trump regime wants to silence our voices and strip away our right to due process. We will not let them take away our freedoms! As you have undoubtedly heard, Tom Homan (Trump's so-called "border czar") issued a vague threat to arrest our governor for the "crime" of providing guidance to state employees if ICE or other agents show up in their offices. Governor Evers responded: "I am not afraid." And neither should we be. So show up for Hannah. Show up for freedom from oppressive government actions! (You can see Governor Evers's full response to the threat.)

Turning to judicial action in outside of Wisconsin, Trump recently directed the Department of Justice to try to free Tina Peters, former county clerk for Mesa County, Colorado. "In August, Peters was found guilty by a jury of Mesa County residents on seven counts, including four felonies, after she helped facilitate unauthorized access to county voting equipment that she was supposed to safeguard in search of voter fraud." (CPR News, May 5, 2025). Peters is currently serving a nine-year sentence for state crimes. So Trump cannot pardon her outright as he did all the January 6 insurrections. The attempt to free Peters while his administration threatens governors and congress people and judges whose rulings he dislikes provides further evidence of Trump's MO: for my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.

But so far, the law in at least some areas is not yielding. In the last few days, three different federal judges have ruled that the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798 cannot be the basis for removing — or as one judge put it, snatching — people off the streets and sending them directly to a gulag in El Salvador without any opportunity for those arrested to contest the claim that they are members of a Venezuelan gang. "Two more federal judges on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration’s use of deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, saying the wartime power shouldn’t be used. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the administration is indefinitely blocked from removing migrants from the Southern District of New York under the act.... US District Judge Charlotte Sweeney [in Colorado], an appointee of former President Joe Biden, similarly said that Trump had likely exceeded his authority in trying to use the wartime authority for quick deportations" (CNN Politics, May 6, 2025").

In another significant win for the Constitution and the rule of law, Judge Beryl A. Howell issued a 102-page summary judgment in the Perkins Coie LLP case. The suit arises from an executive order that "terminates government contracts with the firm's clients, denies employees of the firm access to federal buildings, and suspends security clearances for firm employees" (Lawfare Litigation Tracker). Howell's opinion begins "No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies [emphasis added] but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: 'The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.' ... Eliminating lawyers as the guardians of the rule of law removes a major impediment to the path to more power" (Memorandum Opinion, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, May 2, 2025). [I've edited the text to remove all the legal citations.]

The opinion concludes:

Indeed, the courts are finding themselves flooded with cases challenging the current administration's Executive Orders and actions. If you have the patience to look through them, you can find a listing of them, together with when the listing was last updated and its current status, in Lawfare's Trump Administration Litigation Tracker. It covers more than 220 cases and counting.

In a long and erudite piece, Quinta Jurecic tackles The Courts Versus Trump, Then and Now (Lawfare, May 7, 2025). She finds the courts more effective and more willing to take on what she calls "an aberrant executive."

It's a relief to know that the justice system as a whole has learned some lessons from the first Trump administration and is more willing to act to stop executive overreach, at least as Jurecic tells it. As lawyers and judges do their jobs and continue to uphold the law, we must also do our part. Here are five actions you can and should take in the next eight days or so.

TAKE ACTION

Worth Fighting For WI meeting, 7:00pm Monday May 12 (virtual): “Fighting Tyranny (MAGA): The Immigration / Education Edition”

With so much going wrong, it’s hard to know where to focus. But the fight for both immigrants’ rights (actually EVERYONE’s due process rights) and public education seem top of mind in Wisconsin right now, so that’s the focus of the WFFWi meeting on May 12. Guests include Immigration lawyer Cain Oulahan, immigration activist/organizer Iuscely Flores, WI DPI Superintendent Jill Underly, and UW Madison Professor of Educational Policies Studies Nancy Kendall. Register now.

DEFEND DEMOCRACY: Protect Our Freedoms, Thursday, May 15, 7:30 - 10:30am at the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse (517 E Wisconsin Ave). We will hold a press conference and a rally to support Judge Hannah Dugan and to everyone's right to due process. We are demanding that the charges against Judge Dugan be dropped and that she is freed. Please join us.

Become a delegate to the Democratic State Convention being held at Chula Vista Resort in the Wisconsin Dells on June 14th and 15th! You can find more information, buy a Convention ticket, and fill out a 2025 State Convention Delegate Form. PLEASE NOTE: This form will stop accepting submissions at 4:59 PM on Saturday, May 17th. If you wish to request delegate status between May 17th and the final deadline for County Parties to submit their delegate & alternate lists on May 24th at 5pm, you must communicate directly with your County Party by May 23rd.

Individuals who wish to serve as delegates must be a WisDems member in good standing whose membership is set to expire no earlier than June 15th, 2025. Join or renew your membership.

Support the passage of Assembly Bill 97, the companion bill of SB 23 which was just passed almost unanimously by the Senate on April 22, 2025! This bill extends postpartum healthcare for one year after giving birth for those who are Medicaid eligible. Currently, postpartum care for those who are Medicaid eligible is only 60 days, with Wisconsin and Arkansas as the only states not providing one year coverage.

We are asking voters to call their state legislators in the Assembly to urge them to request that the Speaker of the Assembly bring the bill to the floor for a vote and to pass AB 97. There is overwhelming bipartisan support for this bill–yet, the bill still has not passed for over 2 years because it has not been brought to the floor for a vote. Find your legislators.

You can use the following script in order to contact the Representatives for your district. Phone calls are more effective, but emails are a valid option as well:

"My name is (your full name) and I live at (full address). I’m calling to urge (Representative's name) to support AB 97, the bill that expands Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 1 year postpartum. This bill is critical to pass in order to prevent pregnancy-related deaths of 50 women in Wisconsin, on average, who die every year. Over half of these deaths occur within 1 year postpartum and 90% of these deaths are preventable with adequate healthcare, according to the Wisconsin Maternal Mortality Review Team. Passing AB 97 has long-term humanitarian and economic benefits by keeping parents alive and families intact. Please don’t let Wisconsin be the last state in the US to pass this important legislation! Thank you for your attention and consideration."

Participate in Municipal Clerk Appreciation Week - May 4-11, 2025
During of the week of May 4-11, we must pause to recognize the municipal clerks who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure our elections are secure, accessible, and fair. Their dedication to accuracy, transparency, and service is foundational to our democracy — and to the work we do as League members.

Whether they’re processing voter registrations, managing polling places, or answering late-night questions, clerks are trusted stewards of the democratic process in every Wisconsin community.

Let’s show our gratitude! Reach out to your local clerk this week with a thank-you note, social media shoutout, or kind word. Together, we can lift up the public servants who make our elections possible.

EVENTS

Wednesday, May 7

Thursday, May 8

Friday, May 9

Saturday, May 10

Sunday, May 11

Monday, May 12

Tuesday, May 13

Wednesday, May 14

Thursday, May 15

Saturday, May 31

other important links

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Milwaukee County Democratic Party	Ozaukee County Democratic Party