Judge Convicted of Obstructing Arrest of Immigrant Resigns as GOP Threatens Impeachment

By the Associated Press, Josh Funk 

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.”

Bill Seeks to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

On December 8, 2023, Senate Bill 739 was introduced, read for the first time and then referred to the Committee on Health. The bill's text can be read here.

Bills Fail

On April 1, 2020, pending assisted suicide/ euthanasia bills, SB 499 and AB 552, failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.

For more information, see bill histories here and here.

Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Bills Filed in Senate and Assembly

On October 10, 2019 a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, SB 499, was introduced and referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. To view the text of the bill, click here.  To view the bill's ongoing history, click here.

On October 18, 2019, a companion bill, AB 552, was introduced to the assembly and referred to the Committee for Health and Human Services. To view the bill click here. To view the bill's ongoing legislative history, click here.

AB 216: "Do or Refer" Doctors Not Allowed to Use Their Best Judgment for Individual Patients (No More Jeanette Halls)

Jeanette Hall with her son

Margaret Dore Esq., MBA*

Yesterday, a doctor asked me about "do or refer" provisions in some of the newer bills seeking to legalize assisted suicide in the United States. For this reason, I now address the subject in the context of a 2018 Wisconsin bill, which did not pass.

The bill, AB 216, required the patient's attending physician to "fulfill the request for medication or refer," i.e. to write a lethal prescription for the purpose of killing the patient, or to make an effective referral to another physician, who would do it.

The bill also said that the attending physician's failure to comply would be "unprofessional conduct" such that the physician would be subject to discipline. The bill states: