Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.Photo: Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Walt Disney Television via Getty; Alexander Tamargo/Getty
WhenKamala Harrisis sworn in and officially becomes the first woman to become the vice president on Wednesday, another groundbreaker will be reciting the oath of office.
Harris, who will also become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to hold the office, will take the oath fromJustice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina woman on the Supreme Court.
ABC Newsreportedthat Harris, 56, personally requested Sotomayor, 66, to be the justice presiding over the historic ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on the west front of the U.S. Capitol building shortly before noon ET.
After Harris is sworn in, President-electJoe Biden, 78, will take the oath of office from the court’s Chief Justice John Roberts.
Vice President Kamala Harris.NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty
The vice president-elect has named Marshall as one of her most prominent heroes on a number of occasions, including in her 2019 memoir,The Truths We Hold.
Last July, Harris called Marshall “my childhood hero and inspiration” and said: “Our nation is stronger because of his powerful voice for civil rights and social justice.”
Joe Biden takes oath of office from Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2013.Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty
Sotomayor had previously presided over theswearing-in ceremonyfor Biden in 2013 when he took the vice president’s oath.
She and Harris also share a background as former prosecutors.
Harris' legal career led her to serve as the Attorney General of California from 2011-16, before she was elected to the Senate (and later the White House last November).
“Change is possible,” Harris added, setting up her incoming, history-making term. “For that, I am grateful and ready to get to work.”
Like Marshall, Harris previously called Sotomayor an inspiration.
“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has fought for the voices of the people ever since her first case voting against corporations in Citizens United,” Harristweetedin 2019, during Hispanic Heritage Month. “As a critical voice on the bench, she’s showing all our children what’s possible.”
source: people.com
