Yesterday, Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury. She is set to enter a plea in response to that indictment tomorrow. But before that happens, her attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that she has complete immunity from prosecution for any “official acts.” If that sounds familiar it’s probably because her attorneys are citing Trump’s case for immunity in the motion to dismiss.
This is no ordinary criminal case, and Dugan is no ordinary criminal defendant…
The problems with this prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts. Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset. See Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593,…
