Opinion: Roberts gets two chances today to administer oath to Sotomayor
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Today, when Sonia Sotomayor becomes the 111th justice in the history of the Supreme Court, she will be sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. And not just once -- twice.
But this time, the double oaths will be intentional.
You may recall that Roberts had to administer the oath office to President Obama two times. At Obama’s inauguration in January, Roberts stumbled over the opening words of the inaugural oath, and Obama repeated them, incorrectly.
The goof: Roberts misplaced the word ‘faithfully.’ The Constitution says the president must solemnly swear ‘that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.’ But on Jan. 20, Obama said, ‘I will execute the office of president of the United States faithfully.’
Just to quell complaints (was that the first sign of birther conspiracy theories?), Obama took the oath again -- correctly -- a day later.
Roberts gets two chances today with Sotomayor. At about 8 a.m. Pacific Time, she will repeat an oath prescribed by the Constitution in a private ceremony. Later, in a ceremony with family, friends and cameras present, Robert will administer a second oath, taken by judges.
We presume that if Roberts garbles either oath, the third time will be the charm. Stay tuned to latimes.com for coverage of the ceremony.
-- Steve Padilla
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