An exhibit of The Recorder's editorial cartoons housed outside the federal courthouse library on the 18th Floor at 450 Golden Gate in San Francisco.

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." The court's exhibit features the works of George Riemann, who illustrated cartoons for The Recorder from the early 1990s until the newspaper ceased print publication in September 2016. Riemann estimates that he worked with about a dozen different Recorder editors over the period, first in-person at the paper's offices and then via phone and email once he moved to Germany in 2001. "The editors would come up with an idea and then give it to me in a few lines or sentences by email or phone," said Riemann via email. "While listening on the phone, I would sketch out a very rough scenario, which often stayed pretty much the same until the end." "I think there was only one time in all those years, when I had to call back and say 'This is impossible to get it all into one frame !' " Breyer said that there were probably some judges who either by conduct or appearance lended themselves to Riemann's work more often. "George has a way of getting to the heart of a matter in caricature that's remarkable and tweaks a judge and prods a judge." The exhibit's organizers say it will remain in place indefinitely and visitors are welcome. Below is a sampling of the featured cartoons.