Legal News

Report from the High Court: The Calm Before the Storm

By Ashby Jones

Supreme Court reporter Jess Bravin just a few moments ago sent along this dispatch from Sonia Sotomayor’s formal investiture, which took place earlier today.

The ritual that began in May when President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court reached its highly choreographed climax Tuesday, with the formal investiture of the nation’s 111th justice.

The Supreme Court is not known for adding surprise twists to its ceremonies, and no one expected any of the participants — principally Chief Justice John Roberts, Clerk of the Court William Suter, Attorney General Eric Holder and Sotomayor herself–to stray from their terse scripts. Expectations were met.

Nevertheless, the simple and elegant ceremony aims to usher a new justice from the cutthroat maneuvering that can accompany a nomination into the very different culture of the Supreme Court, whose members, assured of lifetime tenure and the last word on the Constitution, attempt to see their work as something apart from politics.

Celebrities among the political and legal elite, along with friends and relatives of the new justice, packed the courtroom for the five-minute ceremony. President Obama, following his address to America’s schoolchildren, took a seat in the row reserved for the justices’ guests, along with Vice President Joe Biden and White House Counsel Greg Craig. Retired Justice David Souter, Sotomayor’s predecessor, was on hand, as was Solicitor General Elena Kagan and a bipartisan selection of former attorneys- and solicitors-general: Democrats Benjamin Civiletti, Seth Waxman and Walter Dellinger, and Republicans John Ashcroft, Richard Thornburgh, Ted Olson and Gregory Garre (who, it was announced on Tuesday, will be joining Latham & Watkins). Click here for a bunch of good photos, courtesy of the Supreme Court.

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor couldn’t attend due to a previously scheduled foreign trip, a court spokeswoman said.

The mechanics involved Holder bringing Sotomayor’s commission–a parchment document signed by the president formally appointing the justice–which then was read aloud by the court clerk. Roberts than administered the judicial oath–a redundant act for both participants, as they had done it a month earlier after the confirmation vote.

“We wish for you a long and happy career in our common calling,” the chief justice told her.

Soon thereafter, Roberts and Sotomayor emerged from the 17-foot high bronze doors at the court’s formal entrance and descended the steps together. In the marble plaza, they stood for photographs, then the chief justice walked off and Sotomayor’s immediate family–her mother Celina, stepfather Omar Lopez, brother Juan and sister-in-law Tracey–joined her for a few shots before disappearing back into the marble palace.

Tomorrow, many of the same parties will return for something far more contentious — arguments in the Citizens United case (click here).

Let the games begin.

Photos: Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States, Jess Bravin

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 08, 2009 (boomark / email).