Aug. 8
Sonia Sotomayor, left, takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts, right, to become the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice and only the third woman in the court's 220-year history. She is joined by her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, and her mother, Celina Sotomayor, holding the Bible.
J. Scott Applewhite-AP
Aug. 8
Sonia Sotomayor places her hand on the Bible, held by her mother Celina, as she is sworn in with the Judicial Oath in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court. During her confirmation hearings, Sotomayor often praised her mother for instilling in her a love of education and hard work.
Paul J. Richards-AFP/Getty Images
Aug. 8
Judge Sonia Sotomayor takes the Judicial Oath from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Sotomayor spent 17 years as a federal judge prior to joining the Supreme Court.
Jim Young-Reuters
Aug. 8
Newly sworn-in U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, left, gets a hug from her mother Celina Sotomayor. Sotomayor often emphasized her remarkable life story during congressional hearings and speeches, beginning with her childhood in a Bronx housing project.
Jim Young-Reuters
Aug. 8
Brunilda Vega, center, celebrates the swearing-in of Sonia Sotomayor in front of the Supreme Court building along with a few more of the new Justice's supporters. Sotomayor's nomination has been hailed by Latinos as an important milestone for their community.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
Aug. 8
Latina Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, surrounded by supporters, speaks to the media in front of the Supreme Court after Justice Sotomayor's swearing-in ceremony. Velazquez, a long-time friend of Sotomayor, has called the new justice "an incredible, incredible human being."
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 16
Judge Sonia Sotomayor begins the fourth day of her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 16
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), center, stands as the Senate Judiciary Committee readies for the fourth day of Sotomayor's confirmation hearings. Sessions was one of several Republicans to take issue with the nominee's past statements on the influence of her and gender and ethnicity.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 16
Sotomayor enters the fourth day of her Senate nomination hearing, throughout which she has worn a full-leg cast. The nominee broke her ankle at La Guardia airport in New York last month.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 16
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), center, and Sessions, right, co-chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speak with Sotomayor prior to her fourth day of confirmation hearings. The two senators have disagreed over the potential impact on gun ownership that Sotomayor's confirmation would have.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Republican senators John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) confer with each other on the third day of the hearing. At the start of Wednesday's questioning session, Republicans briefly revisited topics, such as Sotomayor's ruling in a discrimination case brought by white firefighters and her comments that a "wise Latina" judge would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) questions Sotomayor. At one point, Coburn asked whether she believes citizens have a right to self-defense and Sotomayor fell into a hypothetical that made him and many in the room laugh. "If I go home, get a gun, come back and shoot you," she told Coburn, "that may not be legal under New York law because you would have alternative ways to defend." Coburn replied, "You'll have lots of 'splainin' to do."
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
As she took questions from Senate Judiciary Committee members, Sotomayor rejected a former law partner's suggestion that she has generally liberal instincts and would support abortion rights.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Firefighters from New Haven, Conn., attend day two of questioning. The Supreme Court recently overturned a controversial discrimination ruling by Sotomayor that involved the fire fighters.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Edward E. Kaufman (D-Del.) look on as senators question Sotomayor.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Throughout the day, Sotomayor took questions from the full Senate Judiciary Committee on issues ranging from her court record to her judicial philosophy.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the newcomer to the Senate, questions Sotomayor. Issues he addressed included free speech on the Internet and the question of whether Supreme Court proceedings might someday be televised.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 15
Sotomayor speaks with servicemen in the audience.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Commitee, greets Sotomayor .
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Supporters and audience look on as senators question Sotomayor on gun rights, executive power and her private practice from years ago, among other topics.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Sotomayor takes questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, a session that lasted from 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. with a few breaks.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Juan Sotomayor, the judge's brother, speaks to Sonia Sotomayor in the hour leading up to her second day of questioning. Juan is a doctor in Syracuse, N.Y.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 15
Sotomayor listens to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the third day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sonia Sotomayor answered questions for eight hours on her second day of confirmation hearings. Each Senator had thirty minutes to inquire about her judicial philosophy or any other subject they wanted to bring up.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
July 14
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) started his questioning by saying: "from everything I've read in your judicial record and everything I've heard you say, you put rule of law first."
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 14
Some GOP committee members said Sotomayor's testimony conflicts with her past public remarks. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "That's what we're trying to figure out. Who are we getting here?"
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
July 14
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) talks with staff during a break in the hearings. Sen. Franken did not question Judge Sotomayor on the second day of her hearings, but will do so most likely on the third day. This is because he is the newest, and thus the least senior, member of the committee.
Mario Tama-Getty Images
July 14
Judge Sotomayor hugs her mother at the end of the day's hearings. She told Senators that in 17 years as a judge, she has never let her own life experiences or opinions influence her decisions.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 14
Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) listen to the nominee's answer during one of their questions. Sen. Graham asked Judge Sotomayor about her judicil philosophy and her views on abortion.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sotomayor sits among reporters, photographers, family, Senators and on-lookers during the eight hour hearing. She described her now-famous remarks that she would hope a "wise Latina" would make better decisions because of her life experiences than a white male as a regrettable "rhetorical flourish that fell flat" and does not reflect her views.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sotomayor, still wearing a cast from when she broke her ankle weeks before the hearing, talks with family during the lunch break.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sonia Sotomayor entered day two of her nomination hearing for Supreme Court justice, responding to questions from the full Senate Judiciary Committee about affirmative action, national security and her well publicized comments about being a "wise Latina."
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 14
Sen. Patrick Leahy greets the mother of the nominee. Judge Sotomayor's family has sat behind her each day of the hearings so far.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sotomayor sat through almost 10 hours of questioning on the second day of her confirmation hearings. Each Senator took 30 minutes to ask her various questions. The ranking Republican Senator, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, put her quickly on the defensive by critiquing some of her lower court rulings and her statements that a "wise Latina" would because of her experiences more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 14
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) chat during a break in the nomination hearings. Sen. Franken, a week into his job after a lengthy Senate recount, said in his opening statement: "It's an incredible honor to be here less than a week into my term as United States Senator. My first major responsibility is here at this historic confirmation hearing."
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sotomayor defended her decision on the New Haven firefighters case, which was recently reversed by the Supreme Court, that the city of New Haven, Conn., was justified in scuttling a promotions test for firefighters after no African Americans qualified for advancement.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 14
Judge Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic justice if confirmed, and Latinos have expressed deep pride in her nomination, holding at least 28 viewing parties across the country on the first day of her hearings.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Judge Sotomayor, the first nominee to the Supreme Court by a Democratic president in 15 years, told the Senate Judiciary Committee, on the opening day of her confirmation hearing, that her judicial philosophy can be distilled to just a few words: "fidelity to the law."
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Sotomayor gives one of her nephews a hug after the end of the day's nomination hearing.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
"Over the past three decades, I have seen our judicial system from a number of different perspectives -- as a big-city prosecutor, a corporate litigator, a trial judge and an appellate judge," Sotomayor said.
Toni Sandys-The Washington Post
July 13
As the judge recounts her upbringing, Celina Sotomayer, her mother, dabs tears from her eyes.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Sotomayor is sworn in by Sen. Patrick Leahy.
Toni L. Sandys-The Washington Post
July 13
Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Cornyn (R-TX) during opening statements.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Sotomayor said that she decided more than 450 cases as a federal district court, before her elevation to the appellate court -- a position, she said, in which she has decided "a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and other legal questions."
Bill O'Leary-The Washington Post
July 13
Judge Sonia Sotomayor is greeted by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), right.
Bill O'Leary-The Washington Post
July 13
Guests line up outside of the Senate office buildings in Washington for a seat at the historic hearing of Judge Sotomayor. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court.
Bill O'Leary-The Washington Post
July 13
Judge Sotomayor introduces her family at the beginning of her nomination hearing. In attendance was Sotomayor's mother, Celina, who raised Sonia and her brother Juan in the Bronx.
Toni L. Sandys-The Washington Post
July 13
Members of Sonia Sotomayor's family observe the hearing proceedings. From left to right: Conner Sotomayor, Corey Sotomayor, their mother Tracey Sotomayor and Judge Sotomayor's niece Kiley Sotomayor.
Bill O'Leary-The Washington Post
July 13
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, portrayed Sotomayor as a nominee with an uncommonly extensive judicial r??sum??. "She is the first nominee in well over a century to be nominated to three different federal judgeships by three different presidents" Leahy said.
Toni L. Sandys-The Washington Post
July 13
Sotomayor listens to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the committee, make his opening statement. Sessions voiced respect for the nominee, yet he said he was troubled by some of her past statements. "I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for," anyone who will not render justice impartially," Sessions said.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), while having doubts on whether he would vote for Sotomayor's nomination, said he thought she would be confirmed "unless you (Sotomayor) have a complete meltdown."
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
New Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) waits for his turn to address the hearing. Many are eagerly awaiting Franken's opening statement, his first official comments as a senator on Capitol Hill.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
July 13
Judge Sotomayor waits patiently as the members of the panel make introductory statements. Sotomayor requested numerous breaks in the proceedings to exercise her broken ankle.
Toni Sandys-The Washington Post
July 13
Since being nominated by President Obama on May 26, Sotomayor has visited with 89 senators to discuss her judicial views and philosophy before her confirmation hearings.
Bill O'Leary-The Washington Post
July 13
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) praised Sotomayor's record and powerful personal story. "I believe that will do only one thing and that is strengthen this high institution of our great country," Feinstein said.
Melina Mara-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editors Stephen Cook, Kate Napier
Text Editor Channing Turner, John Amick, Dan Greene, Sarah Lovenheim
Producers Stephen Cook, Kate Napier
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