Sandra Day O’Connor knows a solid family was an important start to her successful career. The first ever female Supreme Court member and her brother co-wrote a book about their experience of growing up with their family in the Southwest.
Now, two $1 million grants to the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University will establish the Diane Halle Center for Family Justice and the NextCare Urgent Care Family Violence Legal Clinic to address domestic law issues.
The funds are provided by the Halle Foundation, the AVON Foundation for Women and the ASU College of Law. All three organizations are committed to making financial commitments to fight domestic violence and provide access to justice to families in need.
The Diane Halle center will offer legal services to impoverished families and victims of family violence. Halle Foundation president Diane Halle explains that this institution is essential as more often than people realize legal aid is a matter of life and death.
The NextCare Urgent Care clinic will continue NextCare‘s tradition of fighting domestic violence. The care provider offers shelters for victims of family crimes, and now it is honored to be involved in a holistic approach to helping families through a partnership with the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. "I am confident that this partnership will help us better provide for the full continuum of needs of these victims," said NextCare CEO John Shufeldt.
Together, these two new organizations will engage law students about child abuse, spousal abuse, family law, juvenile law, protective orders and more. It is hoped that the programs will not only benefit victims but also educate future generations of lawyers about the importance of serving family clients.
O’Connor appreciates these generous donations and believes the resulting organizations might help safeguard families. She said, "solutions for domestic violence require a comprehensive approach to connect the wealth of resources that are needed to tackle this issue – from legal to social welfare to health services," she said.