Justice Sandra Day O’Connor joined court officials in the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, last month at the grand opening of the court’s Judicial Learning Center. The center’s exhibits and interactive displays, developed by local educators, lawyers, museum experts and judges, educate visitors on the rule of law and the need for a fair and impartial Judiciary, the difference between state and federal courts, how a federal case proceeds, and about the federal court system, among other topics. Up to 70 groups a year visit the center.

O’Connor, an advocate of judicial independence, is on the steering committee of the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary, which seeks ways to support and enhance the functioning of the Judiciary at federal and state levels.