L. 106–166 (text) (PDF), enacted by the United States Congress, it is named after Sandra Day O'Connor, who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from September 21, 1981, to January 31, 2006.

The building is home to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, and also hosts Circuit Judges William C. Canby Jr.; Michael Daly Hawkins; Mary H. Murguia; Mary M. Schroeder; Andrew D. Hurwitz; Barry G. Silverman; Bridget S. Bade and Roopali Desai of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Built at a cost of $123 million[1] and dedicated in October 2000, the building was championed by Senior United States District Judge Robert C. Broomfield.

The building's public atrium features a six-story glass curtain wall on the north face, and contains a drum-shaped special-proceedings courtroom with a glass-lens[clarification needed] ceiling, the work of James Carpenter, an American light artist and designer.

Although part of the General Services Administration's initiative to bring design excellence to public buildings, the building has been plagued with climate-control problems with its evaporative-cooling system.