Bobblehead does justice to Rehnquist

WASHINGTON -- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is not exactly cuddly, but he is a real doll.

The impassive visage of the Supreme Court leader is now depicted, along with his signature gold-striped judicial robes, on a bobblehead figurine.

The doll is the brainchild of the editors at a small legal journal who intend it as an admittedly peculiar tribute to the 78-year-old jurist in what may be his last year on the bench.

"I've never met the man and I probably never will, but we gambled on the possibility that three decades of being called 'your honor' has not left him without a sense of humor about himself," said Ross E. Davies, a law professor at George Mason University and editor in chief of the journal Green Bag.

Rehnquist learned about the doll when one of the little guys appeared in the chief justice's chambers this month. Davies will not say how it got there, but Rehnquist got a good laugh out of it. He even sent Davies a thank-you letter.

The ceramic figurine really looks like Rehnquist, and features inside details about his work on the bench. Rehnquist is depicted standing atop a color map that was a central feature of a 1979 case he wrote involving 19th-century railroad easements. He is holding an accurate rendition of the bound volumes of Supreme Court opinions.

The miniature chief justice, about 8 inches tall, has become a coveted commodity since word of it spread among lawyers and Supreme Court groupies this month.

But for now there are just two prototype dolls, his copy and the one he gave Rehnquist. A limited run of 1,000 dolls is in the works.

Davies said he plans no second run.