A courtroom and a judge's gavel. (Getty Images creative)

The Milwaukee County judge accused of helping a man evade arrest by federal immigration authorities this spring is set to go to trial in December. 

Judge Hannah Dugan, who has been charged with federal felony and misdemeanor counts, said on Wednesday she would not appeal a U.S. District Court judge’s decision not to dismiss the case against her — though she reserved the right to appeal later. On Wednesday, federal Judge Lynn Adelman scheduled Dugan’s trial to begin Dec. 15. 

Dugan’s case has become a national example of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on officials in other branches of government at the local, state and federal levels who are perceived as working against Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. Her April arrest drew widespread condemnation as a threat to judicial independence and criticism of federal Department of Justice officials for publicizing the case before she was even indicted. 

The case stems from what federal prosecutors allege was a deliberate attempt to conceal Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant, from federal authorities. Flores-Ruiz was in Dugan’s courtroom for an appearance in a misdemeanor battery case against him when federal agents arrived with an administrative warrant — which only allowed the agents to operate in the public areas of the Milwaukee County courthouse, not within Dugan’s courtroom. 

Dugan directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a side door of the courtroom, which led them to the same hallway where the agents were standing but not directly past them. An agent rode down in the elevator with Flores-Ruiz and he was later arrested on the street.