The Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse is a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

 at 401 West Washington Street in Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

. Pursuant to , enacted by the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, it is named after the former Supreme Court justice

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...

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The Courthouse is home to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona

United States District Court for the District of Arizona

The United States District Court for the District of Arizona is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Arizona. Court is held in the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott. The district was created on June 20, 1910, by 36 Stat. 557...

, and also hosts Circuit Judges Mary M. Schroeder

Mary M. Schroeder

Mary M. Schroeder is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.- Education :She received her B.A. from Swarthmore in 1962 and her J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1965, one of six women in her class...

, William C. Canby, Jr.

William C. Canby, Jr.

William Cameron Canby, Jr. is currently a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sitting in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born on May 22, 1931, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Canby earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1953 on an ROTC scholarship, graduating summa...

, Michael Daly Hawkins

Michael Daly Hawkins

Michael Daly Hawkins serves as a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is resident in Phoenix, Arizona at the Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse.- Early life and education :...

, Barry G. Silverman

Barry G. Silverman

Barry G. Silverman is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.- Education and Early Career :...

, and Mary Murguia of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...

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Dedicated in October 2000, the courthouse was championed by Senior United States District Judge Robert Broomfield, and designed by architect Richard Meier

Richard Meier

Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...

, with local executive architects of Langdon Wilson Architecture in Phoenix. The courthouse is in Meier's signature monochrome style. Standing six stories with no public parking it encompasses more than 550000 square feet (51,096.7 m²), the public atrium features a dramatic six story glass curtain-wall on the north face, and contains a drum-shaped special proceedings courtroom with a glass-lens ceiling, the work of New York artist James Carpenter

James Carpenter (artist)

James Carpenter is an American light artist, and architect.He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in sculpture in 1972...

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Although part of the General Services Administration

General Services Administration

The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...

's initiative to bring design excellence to public buildings, the Phoenix courthouse has been plagued with climate-control problems with its evaporative cooling system. Atrium temperatures have been known to reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, and the ceiling is open to dust storms.