| James E. Rogan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 27th district |
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| In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Carlos Moorhead |
| Succeeded by | Adam Schiff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 21, 1957 San Francisco, California |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Christine Apffel Rogan |
| Children | Dana Rogan Claire Rogan |
James Edward Rogan (born August 21, 1957) is a judge of the Superior Court of California, a law professor, an author, and a former Member of the United States House of Representatives from California. He also was United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, California State Assembly Majority Leader, a judge of the California Municipal Court, a gang murder prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, and a civil litigator in private law practice. In January 2007 President George W. Bush nominated Rogan to be a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, but the Senate failed to act on the nomination before the expiration of Bush's presidential term of office.
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The illegitimate son of a bartender father and cocktail waitress mother, Rogan was born in the hardscrabble Mission District of San Francisco, California. Rogan's father abandoned his mother when he learned of her pregnancy. Raised by his grandmother Helen and grandfather James Kleupfer - - a longshoreman for over 40 years on the docks of San Francisco - - Rogan was still a boy when both grandparents died. He then lived with his great aunt, Della Glover, until her death. In his early teens Rogan joined his mother and three younger siblings. The family lived on hard times: his single mother (by now a convicted felon) worked at a variety of unskilled jobs while collecting welfare and food stamps.
Rogan dropped out of high school in the tenth grade to go to work, taking a string of low-paying jobs like mopping and sweeping floors, scrubbing toilets, fast-food cook, stacking truck tires, and selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Although he never completed high school formally, Rogan attended Chabot Community College--now Las Positas Community College--in Livermore, California, before earning a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and later his law degree from UCLA Law School, where he was a member of the prestigious UCLA Law Review. Rogan helped pay his way through law school by working as a bartender and bouncer at several of Hollywood and the Sunset Strip's rougher night clubs, including a Hell's Angels hangout, "Filthy McNasty's," (now the Viper Room) and the legendary "Palomino Club."
Rogan married Christine Apffel in 1988; they have twin daughters.
Rogan did a short stint (1983–1985) as a civil litigation attorney in one of Los Angeles’ oldest law firms (Lillick McHose & Charles). He resigned from his firm and signed on as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, where he later was recruited to the “Hardcore Gang Murder Unit.” Rogan specialized in the prosecution of some of L.A.’s most notorious street gangs. In a 1990 statewide poll of prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges, California Lawyer Magazine named Rogan as one of the state’s most effective prosecutors.
Later that year California Governor George Deukmejian appointed the 33 year-old prosecutor to be a judge of the Glendale Municipal Court. Rogan was California's youngest sitting state court judge at the time of his elevation to the bench. During his service on the municipal court (1990-1994) Rogan presided over thousands of civil and criminal cases. In 1993 his colleagues elected him presiding judge of their local court.
Rogan began teaching as an adjunct professor of law in 1987; over the next two decades he taught at various law schools in Southern California, and continues teaching to date. He has been an adjunct professor of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and trial advocacy, and has lectured in many other areas of law, including evidence and intellectual property.
In 1994, Rogan ran for and won a special election to the California State Assembly, where in his freshman term his colleagues elected him Majority Leader. California Journal Magazine named him the Assembly’s most effective legislator, and ranked him “number one in integrity” and “number one in effectiveness.” Rogan served on the Assembly’s Appropriations, Budget, Public Safety, Natural Resources, and Education Committees.
In 1996, Rogan won the first of two terms to the United States House of Representatives. Elected in a very close election with just 50.1%, Rogan became one of only two House members to serve on both the House Commerce Committee and the House Judiciary Committee - - two of the most prestigious committees in Congress.
As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rogan and his colleagues were responsible for reviewing all proposed legislation dealing with a variety of complex issues, including all intellectual property issues (copyrights, patents and trademarks); protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraint of trade and monopolies; the judiciary and all judicial proceedings (civil and criminal); administrative proceedings; immigration issues; bankruptcy law, and all proposed constitutional amendments.
As a member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, Rogan developed an international reputation as a leader on both the protection of intellectual property and the modernization of intellectual property laws to protect America’s economic interests.
As a member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Rogan was a leader in helping to increase the number of H1-B immigration visas that are critical to America’s high-tech community.
As a member of the House Commerce Committee, Rogan served on the oldest and most powerful Committee in the House. Further, as a member of the two most critical subcommittees (the Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, and the Energy and Power subcommittee) Rogan shared responsibility for helping to craft legislation on all matters of interstate and foreign commerce and trade; interstate and foreign telecommunications, regulation of commercial practices (including the Federal Trade Commission); consumer affairs and consumer protection; product liability issues; motor vehicle safety; and all laws relating to national energy policy, including utility issues, and regulation of nuclear facilities.
During his congressional service, Rogan was Assistant Majority Whip for the House Republican Conference. In this capacity, Rogan helped mobilize House votes on key legislative objectives, provided legislative information to Members and the House leadership, and helped to coordinate legislative and political strategies within the Congress. He also was a member of both Speaker Newt Gingrich’s and Majority Leader Richard Armey's “Kitchen Cabinet” advisory groups: Rogan met regularly with the Speaker and the Majority Leader to discuss political and legislative strategies and tactics during the congressional session. Speaker Gingrich named Rogan as co-chairman of the Speaker’s High Tech Task Force, and also named Rogan to be Speaker Pro Tempore on many occasions when Rogan presided over the House during debate and votes on legislation.
Because of his background as a prosecutor and his reputation for respect among Republicans and Democrats, Rogan was selected to be one of the 13 House Managers in the historic impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. This role gave Rogan worldwide recognition.
Although Rogan and his predecessor as U.S. Representative for California's 27th District were both Republican, many of the district's constituents opposed the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. In 2000, Democrats made defeating Rogan a high priority in the U.S. House races, and he was defeated by state Senator Adam Schiff. Rogan’s defeat for reelection in 2000, in what was the most expensive House race in American history at the time[1] (several elections in 2006[2] and 2008[3] later eclipsed it), is widely attributed to his vote for impeachment.
Shortly after leaving Congress, President George W. Bush selected Rogan to be the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although controlled by a Democratic majority, the U.S. Senate confirmed Rogan unanimously, and he assumed office in December 2001. In this new role, Rogan ran one of the oldest agencies in the federal government, overseeing 8,000 employees and a $1.5 billion budget. He served as chief advisor to the president on all matters of intellectual property. Rogan authored the USPTO’s 21st Century Strategic Plan, a reorganization of the 214 year-old agency to modernize and integrate its operations with the leading world intellectual property offices. As Under Secretary and Director, Rogan headed over a dozen U.S. delegations on overseas visits to negotiate bilateral and multilateral intellectual property agreements.
Rogan left the Bush Administration in early 2004, and joined the law firm of Venable LLP, where he worked as a partner in their Southern California and Washington, D.C offices. Later, he joined Preston Gates & Ellis LLP as of counsel, working out of their Orange County, California and Washington, D.C. offices.
In 2004 Harper Collins published Rogan’s memoir, Rough Edges: My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington. Later, Reader's Digest selected Rogan's popular autobiography as one of its top nonfiction books for 2004-2005.
In July 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Rogan to serve as a judge on the Superior Court of California in Orange County; Rogan took office in October 2006.[4][5]
In January 2007, President George W. Bush nominated Rogan for a federal judgeship for the United States District Court for the Central District of California.[6][7][8] Rogan's nomination received broad bipartisan support, including the unanimous approval of Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein judicial nominee review committee, along with the highest rating from the American Bar Association. Despite this, the Democrat-controlled United States Senate Judiciary Committee declined to give Rogan's nomination a hearing because U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer put a hold on the nomination, citing Rogan's role in Clinton's impeachment as the reason.[9][10] Rogan's nomination died at the end of the 109th Congress in January 2009 because the Senate failed to act on it.
In 2011, WND Books published Rogan's second memoir, Catching Our Flag: Behind the Scenes of a Presidential Impeachment. Based on Rogan's more than three feet of behind the scenes contemporaneous notes and diaries, he opened this archive for both modern readers and for history by penning the ultimate insider’s story on what led a very reluctant House of Representatives to impeach a then-very popular American president. At the time of publication, Rogan revealed that, from his first day on the House Judiciary Committee, he knew if the scandal ever led to impeachment proceedings, future accounts would suffer from faulty memories or faulty motives. To combat the threat of factual or historical error, Rogan kept copious notes during every significant meeting relating to impeachment from his first day on the Committee. He said he did this so there would be a complete and accurate historical chronicle - - the best evidence - - of what really happened behind the scenes in the unfolding drama.
Rogan continues sitting as a felony trial court judge on the California Superior Court (in Orange County); he won election to a full term without opposition in 2008. For the past several years, he has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, where he teaches courses on Criminal Procedure and Trial Practice.[11]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cheryl Krott |
Judge of the Municipal Court of California December 14, 1990 – March 12, 1994 |
Succeeded by James Simpson |
| Preceded by Suzanne Shaw |
Judge of the Superior Court of California October 3, 2006–present |
Incumbent |
| California Assembly | ||
| Preceded by Pat Nolan |
California State Assemblyman, 43rd District May 9, 1994 – November 30, 1996 |
Succeeded by Scott Wildman |
| Preceded by Curt Pringle |
California State Assembly Majority Leader January 16, 1996 – November 30, 1996 |
Succeeded by Antonio Villaraigosa |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Q. Todd Dickinson |
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office December 10, 2001 – January 9, 2004 |
Succeeded by Jon Dudas |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Carlos J. Moorhead |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 27th congressional district January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001 |
Succeeded by Adam Schiff |