Obama Celebrates Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor

Photograph of Justice Sotomayor and President Obama, who looks pretty happy, by Ron Edmonds/AP

Today, President Obama held a White House reception to celebrate new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. However, Obama pointed out, "We're here not just to celebrate our extraordinary new Supreme Court justice and all those who've been a part of her journey to this day. We're here as well to celebrate an extraordinary moment for our nation." He noted, "While this is Justice Sotomayor's achievement, the result of her ability and determination, this moment is not just about her. It's about every child who will grow up thinking to him or herself, 'If Sonia Sotomayor can make it, then maybe I can, too.' This is a great day for America."

Sotomayor thanked the president and the Senate Judiciary Committee (for her "respectful" confirmation hearing) and said, "It is our nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx to stand here now. I am struck again today by the wonder of my own life and the life we in America are so privileged to lead."

Among Sotomayor's family and friends, it was packed with Senators (Democratic ones) and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and John Paul Stevens—here's the invite list. From New York, there were Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Governor Paterson, and Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau, who gave Sotomayor her first job out of Yale Law School.