Legal Beat

The Supreme Court will conduct a formal investiture ceremony for Justice Sonia Sotomayor this afternoon in its courtroom.

President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are scheduled to attend. Sotomayor and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will walk down the front steps of the Supreme Court building at about 2:15 p.m., and pose briefly for photographs, along with members of Sotomayor's family.

The newest justice has already been on the job for a month, since getting sworn in on Aug. 8 in a private ceremony at the court. She will be on the bench for Wednesday's oral argument in a high-stakes campaign finance case.