Cal-YAF Cheers Rogan, Still Jeers at Governor

After an outcry from conservatives about the lack of Republican judges that the Governor had been appointing to the bench, Schwarzenegger offered a token appointment of former Congressman and conservative-hero Jim Rogan. Though Rogan's appointment was met with loud cheers, Cal-YAF Chairman Brandon Powers wasn't fooled by the token gesture.

The following article appeared in the August 6, 2006 edition of the Pasadena-Star News, Rogan's old hometown paper from his days in Congress.

Governor picks Rogan as Superior Court judge
By: Gary Scott, Staff Writer

Last February, unhappy Republicans passed a resolution at their annual convention criticizing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for, in their opinion, the inordinate number of liberals he had appointed to the bench. After all, they reasoned, a Republican governor should be expected to choose jurists who share their core values.

For many of them, the last straw came when Schwarzenegger tapped Teresa Snodgrass-Bennett, a public defender whose clients included several high-profile murder suspects, to fill a vacancy on the San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Last week, Schwarzenegger made a selection that may just placate many of his critics and win him a reprieve from intraparty squabbling.

In a more-elaborate-than-usual press release, the Schwarzenegger camp announced that James E. Rogan, former congressman and assemblyman for the Pasadena area, will serve as a judge on the Orange County Superior Court effective Oct. 1 - one month from Election Day.

Michael Schroeder, a former California Republican Party chairman and driving force behind the resolution, said red-blooded conservatives are fed up with the governor's "shameful record" of picking judges who are soft on crime and who "will not enforce the death penalty."

Schroeder, who works as an attorney in Orange County, initially called for a resolution to pull the party's endorsement for Schwarzenegger, describing him in an opinion column as "erratic" and "a long shot who failed to work out."

Not only is Rogan, 48, a champion to the political right with a proven record as a bulldog for conservative causes, he's well-known and well-liked in Orange County - the geographic center of the traditional Republican Party base.

"He is a hero with conservatives," said GOP political consultant Dan Schnur.

"Jim Rogan is more than qualified on the merits to take this judgeship," Schnur added, but acknowledged that the appointment will have positive repercussions for Schwarzenegger within the conservative community.

"At least this is one step in the right direction," said Schroeder, who described Rogan as an old friend. Schroeder further expressed confidence that Rogan will bring an appropriate level of judicial restraint to the bench.

"He will not be looking to make law," he said.

Sabrina Lockhart, spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, said the appointment was made solely on merits and not for political purposes.

"The governor makes his appointments on who would be the ideal candidate for the position," she said.

Rogan now lives in Yorba Linda and is an attorney at the law firm Preston Gates Ellis. His story, which he chronicled in his autobiography "Rough Edges: My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington," is that of a hardscrabble kid who withstood the sin and violence of strip clubs and Hollywood bars to emerge as a star in the "Republican Revolution" of the 1990s.

Having served in the California Assembly, Rogan was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. House Leader Newt Gingrich took him under his wing, appointing him to the powerful House Judiciary and Commerce committees.

Rogan may be best known for his role as a manager in the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998. His participation likely cost him his re-election bid in 2000 to Rep. Adam Schiff, in what still stands as the most expensive House race in U.S. history.

Rogan has never been apologetic, however, saying of his role in the impeachment: "I would have hurt the Constitution if I had not done what I thought was right."

It is that type of talk that has endeared Rogan to party activists and hard-liners.

Unlike Schwarzenegger, Rogan's commitment to the bedrock principles of the Republican Party has never seriously been questioned.

The judgeship will be a homecoming of sorts for him. Rogan served on the Los Angeles Superior Court in his early 30s after a stint as a prosecutor. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UCLA law school.

His hero status notwithstanding, Rogan and his appointment cannot heal what remains a nasty - albeit subdued - rift within the GOP over Schwarzenegger's apparent commitment to "core Republican values."

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," said Brandon Powers, chairman of the ultraconservative California Young Americans for Freedom, of Schwarzenegger.

"While Arnold's appointment of Jim Rogan to the bench is great news," Powers said, "it doesn't change the fact that of his judicial appointments have been Democrats opposed to enforcing the death penalty rather than those who will uphold the law like Jim Rogan."

gary.scott@sgvn.com