Breadcrumb

McGeorge partners with the Federal Court’s Kennedy Learning Center

The Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Library and Learning Center is located in the library on the first floor of the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse, the home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

The Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Library and Learning Center is located in the library on the first floor of the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse, the home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

McGeorge has partnered with the Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Library and Learning Center to promote its educational outreach to citizens of all ages.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to build out this distinctive law school-federal court relationship. The Kennedy Learning Center is a hidden gem in Sacramento," McGeorge Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz said. "As the state capital's law school and given Justice Kennedy’s status as our longest serving and a beloved faculty member, we want to help increase the visibility and role of this important community asset."

The Learning Center is located in the library on the first floor of the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse, the home of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The Learning Center's mission is to foster respect for the rule of law and spotlight the independent judiciary's role in protecting the constitutional and civil rights of all.

The Sacramento Federal Judicial Library and Learning Center Foundation manages the Learning Center and supports it through fundraising activities. Longtime McGeorge Adjunct Professor and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Linn directs the foundation, which has had great success in its outreach to local youth.

“The Justice Kennedy Library and Learning Center exists to promote civic education, particularly the role of the federal and state judiciaries in our democracy. McGeorge brings talent and resources that will help us fulfill that mission. We are thrilled to partner with Dean Schwartz and the entire McGeorge School of Law community,” Linn said.

McGeorge has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the Learning Center. The law school's Halbert Lincoln Collection, which includes 878 published works and 369 pieces of memorabilia, has been on display in the courthouse's spacious Library and Learning Center for two decades. The late Sherrill Halbert, a federal judge in Sacramento when the Eastern District was created, donated these materials to McGeorge in the 1980s. American historians considered it to be one of the most complete collections in the West devoted to the life of President Abraham Lincoln.

"We are excited about assisting the foundation in working with the court and others to integrate interactive components into the Lincoln Collection," Schwartz said. "In addition, we will co-sponsor and support the high-level lectures and symposia that are held in the Learning Center."

The ambitious goals for the Learning Center also include: the creation of an exhibit dedicated to the life and legacy of Justice Kennedy; inclusion of audio display exhibits of historical and constitutional significance in the Learning Center; growth of the Learning Center’s educational materials to promote greater public understanding of the judicial process; and continuation and, possibly, expansion of the Learning Center’s summer institute for K-12 public school teachers.

"McGeorge shares the Learning Center’s goals of educating local students and citizens regarding the American legal system and promoting the Rule of Law. An increased awareness of the role of our independent federal judiciary and its workings would greatly benefit our entire society," Schwartz added.