AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley was nominated to serve a third seven-year term on Thursday by Gov. Paul LePage.
“The highest standards of integrity both professionally and personally are required of our judges and justices,” LePage said in a press release. “Chief Justice Saufley has demonstrated these qualities and is widely admired in the judiciary. I have confidence that she will continue to prove to be a great chief justice.”
She was appointed to the District Court bench in 1990 and to the Superior Court bench in 1993 by Gov. John McKernan. Four years later, Gov. Angus King appointed her to the state’s high court.
Saufley was sworn in as Maine’s first female chief justice on Dec. 6, 2001, to replace Daniel Wathan. Gov. John Baldacci nominated her to a second term in February 2009.
Saufley graduated from the University of Maine in 1976 and from the University of Maine School of Law in 1980. She worked in the Maine attorney general’s office for nearly a decade before being nominated to be a District Court judge.
The chief justice is a member of the Conference of Chief Justices, the Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference of the United States, according to the press release. She also is the recipient of numerous awards, including the International Women’s Forum, Woman Who Makes a Difference Award.
Judicial nominees are reviewed by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and must be confirmed by the state Senate.