Melissa A. Long was Sworn-in as an Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court

Providence, RI – Melissa A. Long was sworn-in as a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court on Monday.

She was confirmed in December replacing Justice Francis Flaherty, who retired.

Associate Justice Long is the first Black justice on the Supreme Court bench.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at noon on the State House steps. Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell administer the oath, and the traditional “robing” was done by Circuit Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, a former Rhode Island Superior Court judge and the first Black woman appointed to that position.