Sotomayor's a Rookie Again

(NEWSER) - GOP senators may have pooh-poohed Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment, but wise Latinas everywhere are wearing the phrase like a badge of honor, the New York Times reports. From t-shirts to blogs, women of Hispanic heritage have warmed to the phrase much like other minority groups appropriate slurs, a linguist says. “‘Wise Latina’ is not just sticking your chin up. It’s a fist in the air.” More»

White House holds reception for new justice

(AP) - President Obama today celebrated the rise of Sonia Sotomayor to become the Supreme Court's newest member and first Hispanic, hailing her story and achievement as an inspiration for generations. "When Justice Sotomayor put her hand on that Bible and took that oath ... we came yet another step to the more perfect union that we all seek," Obama told a White House reception for Sotomayor. More»

(NEWSER) - Three years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor is still on the bench—in federal appellate courts across the country, where the high court's first woman justice has quietly been filling in as a substitute judge. O'Connor has heard nearly 80 cases and written more than a dozen opinions at the lower level, often without telling her former Supreme Court colleagues. "It's nice to keep your hand in a bit," she tells the Wall Street Journal. More»

(AP) - It's Justice Sotomayor now. Sonia Sotomayor has been sworn in as the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice. She's only the third female justice in the court's 220-year history. Sotomayor took the second of two oaths of office from Chief Justice John Roberts in an ornate conference room at the high court, with her mom holding the Bible. She swore a first oath in a private ceremony minutes earlier. "Congratulations, and welcome to the court," said Roberts. More»

(NEWSER) - Justices past and present say no amount of experience can prepare someone for the role Sonia Sotomayor is walking into, the New York Times reports. "I was frightened to death for the first three years," Justice Bremer, who joined the court in 1994, once admitted. As the court's newest justice, Sotomayor will need to swiftly learn to deal with the dynamics of the court's other eight members as she prepares for an onslaught of complex First Amendment, business, and criminal cases in the new term. More»