Senate confirms Sotomayor on 68-31 vote. Saturday swearing-in

Updated. 4:56 p.m. eastern.

WASHINGTON–The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court Thursday afternoon on a 68-31 vote. She will be sworn in at 11 a.m. Saturday by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. as the nation’s 111th high court justice–first Hispanic, third female– during a private ceremony at the Supreme Court with just the Sotomayor family. Roberts will do another ceremonial swearing-in right after for her family and friends.

The Supreme Court announced that a “formal investiture ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 8, at 2 p.m. at a special sitting of the Court in the Courtroom.

White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Sotomayor watched the Senate vote in her judicial chambers in New York.

President Obama will host a reception for her Wednesday at the White House.

But it was important to Obama for Sotomayor to be sworn-in at the court because of the symbolism–that the courts in the U.S. are an independent branch of the government.

Release from the Supreme Court…..

Sonia Sotomayor will be sworn in as the 111th Justice of the Supreme Court on Saturday, August 8, at 11 a.m. at the Supreme Court of the United States. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., will first administer the Constitutional Oath in a private ceremony in the Justices’ Conference Room attended by members of the Sotomayor family. The Chief Justice will then administer the Judicial Oath in the East Conference Room before a small gathering of Judge Sotomayor’s family and friends.

The Judicial Oath ceremony in the East Conference Room will be open to pool coverage. There will be no opportunity for interviews or questions at the ceremony.

A formal investiture ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 8, at 2 p.m. at a special sitting of the Court in the Courtroom. Further details regarding that ceremony and other opportunities for coverage will be provided as they become available.

Please contact the Public Information Office for more information.