Today Governor Schwarzenegger announced his intention to appoint former Congressman James Rogan to a seat on the Orange County Superior Court that will become vacant on September 30th..

Rogan, of course, is a superstar on the Republican side of the aisle.  While originally a Democrat, Rogan found his heart and soul in the Grand ol’ Party of Abraham Lincoln.  He has had a storied career — as a successful gang murder prosecutor, a judge up in Los Angeles County, GOP Majority Leader (yes, we had one of those once!) of the California State Assembly, a Member of Congress (where he served as one of the handful of managers of impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton), and went on to serve President George W. Bush as an Undersecretary of Commerce and as Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

If you ask Jim about his career, and of what he is most proud, he will readily pull out of a photo of his family, and beam as he tells you that his family is his most proud achievement.

Anyways, Rogan is well known for two things — his ability to forge relationships and make friends with people regardless of THEIR ideology or party — and his steadfast ability to stick to his own principles as a conservative Republican.

His life experiences, judicial philosophy, and even temperament will serve him well on his return to the bench.

Although the FlashReport does warn those who will be in his courtroom – Rogan considers himself to be a funny person, and you might want to make sure you laugh at his jokes.

I had an opportunity to quickly reach out to Jim Rogan, both to congratulate him and ask him if he had any reaction to this great news.

"Jon, I’m humbled that Governor Schwarzenegger plans on giving me a chance to return to the bench," said Rogan.  "It was a tremendous honor to serve in that capacity once before, and I’m thrilled to have a chance to return to one of the jobs I loved most. I will do all I can to serve our community with honor, and to be the best judge I can be."
 
Rogan and his family relocated to Orange County a few years ago after his return from Washington. "My wife Christine’s family has been down in Orange County for over 50 years, and I suspect most of my political donors over the years came from Orange County, so this has always felt like home to us!" Rogan quipped.

I should add, gratuitously, that Rogan also said that he reads the FlashReport each and every day, as he has for many years.

There has been some controversy over the Judicial appointments of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a lot of angst coming from Republicans over the number of Democrats he has appointed to the bench (it is an issue that upsets all GOPers, not just moderates or conservatives).  The appointment of Jim Rogan to the bench is a great one, and if we can expect to see many more selections like him, then I think that it will go a long way towards moving us forward on this issue.

In closing, congratulations to you, Jim Rogan, on this great new position!  Prosecutor.  Judge.  State Legislator.  Congressman.  Undersecretary.  Now, Judge once again.  You have had a distinctive career of public service for which we are all grateful!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 31st, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.