Friend –

Today, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is set to appear in court after the FBI arrested her on April 25 for allegedly obstructing justice.

Judge Dugan's arrest represents a major escalation in the Trump administration's mass deportation and detention agenda, and it's another chilling abuse of power designed to silence dissent and intimidate anyone the government disagrees with.

Between the Dugan case and recent threats made by border czar Tom Homan to arrest Governor Evers over a legal memo he issued concerning ICE, it seems clear that public officials in Wisconsin who don't march in lockstep with the White House are subject to being targeted by the federal government. These attacks undermine core components of our democracy, like the separation of powers, due process, and free speech, and put our civil rights and civil liberties at risk.

If we don't reject these actions now, our state and other critical institutions will only continue to lose more and more power and autonomy. Wisconsinites see what's at stake and have been fighting hard – we've been protesting, attending town halls, making our voices heard at the ballot box, and organizing with our communities to build a better future together. You can read our full blog to learn more.

In the US Senate, Senators are debating legislation that would undermine a key check on executive overreach by limiting a court's ability to impose injunctive relief and pause enforcement of a law while it's still being litigated on. The House has passed the bill, but the Senate can still vote it down. Tell your Senators: Vote no on limiting courts' ability to check presidential abuses of power.

We need to keep fighting, to keep caring, and to keep showing up for ourselves and our communities. If we want democracy to last, we have no other choice.

In solidarity,

ACLU of Wisconsin