In a 68-31 vote, the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th Justice of the Supreme Court. She is the first Hispanic justice and only the third woman to serve on the high court. All Senate Democrats present voted in favor of her confirmation, and all but eight Senate Republicans – Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) – voted against. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) did not cast a vote due to illness, although he expressed his official support.

In an appropriate twist, the newly-seated Senator and constitutional “star” of the Senate Judiciary Committee – Al Franken of Minnesota – presided over the final hour of debate and announced the vote confirming Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor is scheduled to be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., in a private ceremony Saturday morning. BLT reports that there will also be a formal investiture ceremony, including a special sitting of the Court, on Sept 8.