SAN FRANCISCO — Consider it visual evidence that federal judges in the Northern District of California are committed to the First Amendment: Hanging outside the 18th floor library at the federal courthouse at 450 Golden Gate is an exhibit of a decade's worth of editorial cartoons from The Recorder depicting the district's judges—and not always in the most flattering light.

The exhibit was the brainchild of the San Francisco District Court library staff, which enlisted the help of frequent cartoon subject U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer for logistical help choosing cartoons and finding funds for framing.

“When the bankruptcy court moved in we had to change the entrance to the law library and, in that process, two long bare white walls were erected,” said Breyer in an interview this summer shortly after the exhibit was installed. “Whenever I see a blank space on a wall I want to hang a picture and so this provided an opportunity.”