Peep This: Ridiculous, Awesome ABA Comp. Reaches 7th Year

Every holiday has its traditions. On Halloween there are pumpkins. And eggs. For the Fourth or July we celebrate independence with ritual explosions. For spring? We trot out the Peeps, those strangely colored marshmallow confections resembling young chicks.

They say Peeps are edible and I'm inclined to believe them, but why eat your sugar snacks when you can play with them? That, at least, is what the ABA wants you to do.

Peeps In Law Celebrates Its Copper Anniversary

For seven years now, the ABA has been hosting a Peeps diorama contest. Last year's best diorama, in my estimation, featured a reinterpretation of the classic R v. Dudley and Stephens, the English common law case ruling that necessity is no defense to murder, lost at sea or no. It remains a foundational case in Cannibal Law to this day.

This year's Peeps in Law is nominally Game of Throne's themed, though we haven't yet stumbled across any Red Wedding displays.

Highlights From This Year

It's too late to submit your own diorama -- more peeps for you to eat -- but you have through Sunday to vote on the existing entries. Winners will be announced April 7th. Some highlights from the contestants:

• Lochner's bakery, to celebrate a simpler time when Peep makers and others could enjoy a constitutionally protected right to child labor and 65 hour work weeks.
• A Raven themed entry to celebrate the inclusion of Poe's famous poem in a bankruptcy ruling.
• A white horse in Yugoslavia, the literal representation of one of Justice Breyer's more interesting oral argument analogies.
• A spotted owl diorama, paying tribute to environmental law -- but is that a homemade Peep we spy? How'd the corporate sponsor ever let this one through?

If that's not enough neon marshmallow goodness for you, The Washington Post is giving the ABA a run for their money. While the Post's peeps aren't law related, their website includes 360 degree views of the peeps -- a pretty good feature for a diorama contest.

Related Resources:

• Vote for Your Favorite Peeps in Law 2015 Diorama! (ABA Journal)
• Listen Up Peeps! Get Ready for the 6th Annual Peeps in Law Contest (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Cupid Loves the ABA's 6th Cir. Law Student Pro Bono Competition (FindLaw's U.S. Sixth Circuit Blog)
• Boy, 10, Pulls Gun on Woman to Protect Halloween Candy (FindLaw's Blotter)