Sonia Sotomayor sworn in as first Hispanic supreme court judge

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Moderate judge is only the third woman to sit on America's highest

US supreme court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor

US supreme court judge Sonia Sotomayor. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty

Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in yesterday as the first Hispanic judge to sit on the supreme court, the highest legal body in America.

Surrounded by family and friends, Sotomayor swore an oath to administer justice fairly in a public ceremony in Washington DC led by Chief Justice John Roberts. Earlier she had sworn another oath to Roberts in a private ceremony. It completed a lengthy process, confirming Sotomayor's place in the court that makes judgments on controversial issues as abortion rights, gay marriage and affirmative action, as well as a host of more mundane legal issues.

Though her nomination was never really in doubt, it was marred by controversy as Republicans focused on Sotomayor's comments that she brought her experience as a "wise Latina woman" to judicial decisions. Republicans claimed the remarks potentially showed racial prejudice.

Her nomination now appears to have been a canny political move by President Barack Obama. Sotomayor, who has a moderate judicial record, has a stirring life story that began in a tough Bronx housing project. She is wildly popular with many Hispanics in America, a growing source of electoral power as they expand demographically.

Sotomayor, 55, has worked for 17 years as a federal judge and is the third woman to be appointed to the supreme court. It currently has one woman sitting on it – Sotomayor joins Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Judge Sandra O'Connor has retired.

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