WASHINGTON - Judge Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in on Saturday as the first Hispanic associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

With her left hand on a Bible held by her mother, Sotomayor swore to administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and to the rich.

The oath was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, who read the text from a piece of paper.

It was the second swearing-in of the day for Sotomayor, whose rise from an impoverished childhood in New York City to become only the third woman to serve on the high court was a key narrative of her confirmation hearings in Congress.

An earlier, off-camera ceremony was followed by a televised event in a conference room at the Supreme Court. Sotomayor's mother, Celina, and her brother, Juan Luis Sotomayor, stood beside her during the administration of the public oath.

(Editing by Alan Eisner)