OSU Dean becomes the new (interim) Ohio Attorney General

Of course, this breaking Ohio legal news is more central to my universe than to the broader sentencing world.  Still, everyone involved in lawyering and legal education should find this development interesting:

Nancy Hardin Rogers, dean of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law has been named interim Ohio attorney general this morning by Gov. Ted Strickland.

She will serve as an interim replacement until voters choose a replacement for Marc Dann in the Nov. 4 election to serve the remainder of Dann’s term until early 2011. She became dean in August 2001 after serving two years as vice provost for academic administration at OSU.  Her law degree is from Yale.  “She is a person of great accomplishment who is widely admired by her colleagues,” Strickland said, adding that she will bring “dignity, professionalism and focus” to the office.

Strickland said Rogers has no interest in running for the office, but rather is being brought in for six months to “right the ship in the attorney general’s office.”  She plans to return to Ohio State after the November election.

Because I respect new AG Rogers so much, I will surely have a hard time objectively assessing her work in her new (interim) job.  Still, I expect that there will be some significant legal and political issues relating to crime and justice (particularly with regards to the death penalty) that are likely to cross her desk before she returns to the ivory tower.  I cannot help in this setting to be reminded of the old Chinese curse/proverb: “May you live in interesting times.”

UPDATE:  This editorial from the Cincinnati Enquirer may pay new Ohio AG Rogers the ultimate complement in the course of lauding Governor Strickland’s choice:

The governor said he would make his choice based on maturity, integrity, experience and management skills – and apparently he meant it.  Nancy Rogers seems an exact opposite of Marc Dann in nearly every meaningful respect.