Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor sworn in

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

From the New York Times Sotomayor Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor took the judicial oath on Saturday, becoming the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the Supreme Court in United States history.

At just past 11 a.m., Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. administered a pair of oaths to her in two private ceremonies at the Supreme Court building, completing her ascent to a life-tenured position as the nation’s 111th justice, and the first to be nominated by a Democratic president since 1994.

In the first ceremony, which took place in the justice’s conference room and was attended only by her relatives and a court photographer, she took the standard oath affirmed by all federal employees, swearing to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

She and the chief justice then walked to the court’s East Conference Room for the judicial oath, in which she stood before about 60 friends and family members and swore to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me” under the Constitution and laws of the United States.

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Although Justice Sotomayor is now a full member of the court, entitled to move into her new chambers and prepare for her first case — a campaign-finance dispute left over from the court’s last term — she still has several rituals yet to attend.

President Obama, who did not attend Saturday’s events, will be at a White House ceremony on Wednesday in Justice Sotomayor’s honor. And on Sept. 8, the Supreme Court will hold a special invitation-only investiture ceremony — a special sitting at which she will take her seat on the dais for the first time, probably followed by an appearance alongside Chief Justice Roberts for a traditional picture on the front steps of the court.