Sara Mauer

Sara Mauer
Official portrait, 2019
3rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Makko Oko
Incumbent
Assumed office October 22nd, 2027
Minister of Justice
In office September 13th, 2019 – October 22nd, 2027
Personal details
Born	October 15th, 1965 (58 years old) Xion, Amhem, Makko Oko
Spouse	Phillip Mauer
Children	1

Sara Mauer (born October 15th, 1965) is a Makkonian lawyer who has served as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Makko Oko since 2027. Prior to being appointed as Chief Justice, she was the government's Minister of Justice for eight years, making her the longest-serving public official in empire history. She has been described as a brutal attorney who zealously represents her clients, and when she was a Supreme Court justice from 2011-2019, she was commended for sparing soldiers of the Christian Nationalist Front from the death penalty.

Since the creation of the Law Council in 2022, Mauer has been a champion of justice and law enforcement reform, which has earned her praise and criticism equally from the public and the law enforcement community, writing laws such as the Police Certification & Anti-Abuse Act and bringing councilmembers together to have it ratified despite disagreements. Her ability to be flexible in her politics is what political experts describe as a "rare token in politics" and is why many consider her to be a centrist.

Early life and education

Sara was born on October 15th, 1965, in the present-day city of Xion, Amhem, Makko Oko, and grew up as the youngest child in a family of three siblings. Her father was a named partner working for Richter & Mauer LLP, and her mother worked as a school teacher.

Sara showed early signs of her interest in law and justice, and after completing her high school education, she pursued a law degree and ended up getting the highest marks on the bar exam, graduating with honors in 1987 and started her professional career as a lawyer at the largest law firm in the nation, Lavangia Associates. She would work there and become a senior partner in 1992, making her the youngest person to ever become a partner not just at Lavangia but in the entire world, becoming a senior partner at the age of 27.

Career

She would leave Lavangia Associates without ever having become named partner in 1998 to clerk for the Supreme Court, later moving to the Office of the President working as a legal rep for the government to advise then-President Julius Knudsen. During her tenure as a lawyer, she developed a reputation for her meticulous attention to detail and her unwavering commitment to justice. In 2001, Sara joined the Department of Justice as a public defender. Her razor-sharp legal expertise soon caught the attention of her superiors, and she was promoted to the position of policy analyst in 2002. There, she had led some major decisions that earned her a promotion to senior policy analyst and then to secretary of legal policy in 2007.

In 2011, Sara was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court, where she presided over several high-profile cases. She gained widespread admiration for her sound judgment, keen insight into legal matters, and her firm but fair approach to sentencing. Her accomplishments on the bench were widely lauded, and in 2018 she personally spared the lives of multiple CNF soldiers who should've been executed to be "lenient during these trying times". That made her good personal friends with the Emperor, earning her a spot in the Ministry of Justice after the war concluded in 2019.

Minister of Justice

Sara Mauer was the 1st Minister of Justice (2019-October 22nd, 2027), helping to spearhead the National Citizens Aid Service in November 2022 by assisting in drafting and having ratified, the 5th Amendment to the Basic Rights. NCAS is a government agency under the MOJ that provides free legal assistance to anybody that qualifies as outlined under the Constitution, along with providing some additional supplementary services not specifically required by the Constitution.

In late 2023, Sara spearheaded reform in the legal services industry by successfully proposing the Legal Equality and Access Act of 2023, which prohibited the establishment or operation of any legal associations, including the Republican Legal Association, which shutdown as a result of the law's enactment. In addition, it also put everything regarding attorney licensure under the MOJ's control and established service duties for attorneys, which was a highly controversial decision. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court in 2027, she was a major player in helping draft the 6th Amendment of the Constitution.

Appointment to Supreme Court

When the 6th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, all the justices of the Gerlach Court protested, refusing to go back to work until it was repealed. This led the Privy Council to summon all the justices to appear before them for a hearing on their conduct, and to negotiate terms. In the end, no terms were changed however Chief Justice Gerlach and justices Aponte and Graham were terminated. Following their terminations, Emperor Conall specified that he was looking into recommendations for a replacement Chief Justice along with appointing new justices to the bench, the first time an appointment would be done since the Giddens Court. Her appointment was announced at the live investiture ceremony on October 22nd, 2027 and her term commenced immediately thereafter, surpassing Justice Sullivan for the spot.