is a fictional character from the highly popular
A Series Of Unfortunate Events by
Lemony Snicket .
In
Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events The Film , she is played by
Catherine O'Hara who has starred in other movies such as
Beetlejuice and
The Nightmare Before Christmas .
Justice Strauss is a
High Court Judge who lives next to
Count Olaf 's
House . The
Baudelaire s take a liking to her as soon as they meet her and she soon lets them use her
Library to help with the cooking of
Puttanesca Sauce . Her library also comes in handy in the unfoiling of
Count Olaf 's plan to get the
Baudelaire fortune. At the mock wedding that
Count Olaf sets up, she plays the judge and actually almost marries
Violet to the Count (Violet prevents this). At the end of the book, Justice offers to look after the
Baudelaire s but this is not possible due to legal obligations on the part of
Mr. Poe .
It is not clear whether Justice is a member of
V.F.D. or not. It is possible, due to the fact that she has a large library, and that one of the disguises is a "Judge Disguise". It is a possibility that she wrote the letter to the Bauldelaires that was signed J.S.
Justice Strauss reappears in
The Penultimate Peril . She has been researching the Baudelaire case, and attempts to bring Count Olaf to justice. Unfortunately, her two fellow High Court judges turn out to be Olaf's
Associate s, the man with a beard but no hair, and the woman with hair but no beard. Olaf kidnaps Justice Strauss and threatens to harm her unless the Baudelaires open the
Vernacularly Fastened Door leading to the laundry room of the
Hotel Denouement .
Klaus opens the door, but the
Sugar Bowl Olaf is looking for is not inside, and he ascends to the roof to escape, after helping
Sunny set fire to the hotel. Justice Strauss attempts to prevent the escape, but Sunny bites her hand so that she lets go. The ending is
Ambiguous as to whether Justice Strauss actually perished in the hotel
Fire or not. However, it should be noted that Justice Straus is said to fall off the top of the roof of the hotel and to the ground below.
