A controversy has apparently been settled between a designer who wanted the four female Supreme Court justices as Lego figurines and the toymaker who declined her initial request.
Back in March, Constitution Daily spoke with Maia Weinstock, an artist and journalist, who was trying to get the Denmark-based toy giant Lego to allow figures of Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan into their Lego Ideas contest.
Lego wouldn’t allow won’t the Supreme Court figurines in a play set because they were considered too “political.”
If you think this is a small issue for designers such as Weinstock, it isn’t. The Lego Ideas allows website users to comment on an eligible project, and once a project gets 10,000 votes or likes, it appears before a Lego Review board. The board considers projects in three sittings; lucky projects get made into official play sets, and winners get 1 percent of the play set’s net sales.
For Weinstock, the playset prototype was designed for International Woman’s Day and she said the figures of female Supreme Court justices sent an important message to children.
She told us in an e-mail last month that she was impressed by the reaction to her story and hopeful.
"Scores of people have either tweeted, commented, or written me directly their wish that this set were available for them and for their kids. I have been considering how to respond, and that may include some kind of appeal to Lego. For now, I'm thrilled to know so many have been enjoying seeing these pioneering Justices in a new light," Weinstock said.
And now, Weinstock told us that she and Lego have come to an understanding and she has submitted a set of generic Supreme Court female justices using the same playset prototypes.
There are details on Weinstock’s blog and pictures of the three generic justices.
She said that she Lego if it “would consider the same set featuring generic justices, not made in the likeness of any real-life officials. Such a set, I reasoned, would still address my primary goals in creating the original Legal Justice League: inspiring girls and women in the legal realm and providing more diverse options for role models in the toy aisle.”
Weinstock said Lego quickly approved the idea and now online users can go to the Lego Ideas site and vote for her project.
Link: How To Vote for the Legal Justice Team
The proposed playset includes a Court chamber, including red columns, judicial benches, and advocate's lectern; a law library; three minifigure justices; and accessories including coffee mugs, a gavel, pens, laptops and newspapers.
Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.
