The Third Circuit on Thursday posted on its website a 44-page request for quotes for a courthouse lobby exhibit. Now, you might imagine that’s a magical insomnia cure, but you’d be mistaken. The exhibit the court envisions is ambitious and timely—urgent, even—focusing on the subject of judicial independence.

The court’s statement contains a detailed outline of the planned exhibit, and I heartily encourage you to check it out. The exhibit will include quotations old and new, such as this by Alexander Hamilton:

The independence of the judges, once destroyed, the constitution is gone; it is a dead letter, it is a vapor which the breath of faction in a moment may dissipate.

And this by Chief Judge Smith:

[A]s seen in Brown and other decisions, the judiciary can fulfill a role as protector of individual rights when the two political branches fail to do so. Or putting it another way, the outcome of having a system of judicial review is that individual rights are more likely to be protected, especially considering that judges are far more insulated from political pressures than the political branches. This benefit has sometimes been characterized as an independent judiciary protecting against the tyranny of the majority.

The statement highlights several cases from the Third Circuit courts that showed judicial independence. Most of the examples are historical, but it notes, “If a more recent case is included in the exhibit, Judge Ambro’s opinion in Hassan, which is on the surveillance of the Muslim Community in New York City post-September 11, may be a good one to consider using.” (The superlative Hassan opinion is linked here.)

Make no mistake, this isn’t your standard boring civics display. This exhibit will be a significant statement by the Third Circuit, not just to visitors to the courthouse but to the entire nation.