Cultivated Compendium

Climate negotiators are working to finalize the technical aspects of a climate change deal, and they must form the legal structure of the deal as part of that, Responding to Climate Change's Megan Darby reports: "The ultimate goal is a deal this December setting out how countries will cooperate to decarbonise their economies, prepare for the impacts of climate change and support the developing world in both endeavours." Interim talks are being held in Bonn this week.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that sex offenders can't be banned from living near parks and schools, The Boston Globe's Michael Levenson reports. The court said those restrictions are like the eras in American history in which American Indians were removed from their lands and Japanese Americans were interned during World War II: "'Except for the incarceration of persons under the criminal law and the civil commitment of mentally ill or dangerous persons, the days are long since past when whole communities of persons, such as Native Americans and Japanese-Americans, may be lawfully banished from our midst,' Justice Geraldine S. Hines wrote."

Daniel M. Filler, a Drexel University law professor, told Levenson that statewide rules restricting where sex offenders can live would pass constitutional muster. However, the problem is when muncipalities pass laws that force convicted sex offenders to move to another town.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the state's Medicaid expansion could proceed today, Alaska Dispatch News' Tegan Hanlon reports. Governor Bill Walker expanded Medicaid over the objections of legislators, who argue they need to approve the expansion for it to be legal. The underlying lawsuit over the issue will still proceed because the court's order was about whether a temporary restraining order would go into place.

The California Senate has just passed a bill that would restrict drones from being flown over wildfires, Los Angeles Times' Patrick McGreevy and Melanie Mason report. Other measures are being considered to restrict drone flights over prisons, schools and homes. For example, there is a bill on the governor's desk that would "criminalize the act of operating an unmanned aircraft system less than 350 feet above ground over private property without the consent of the property's owner."

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an emergency application by a Kentucky clerk against having to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her religious objections, CNN's Ariane de Vogue and Jeremy Diamond report. The high court refused to stop a lower court ruling while clerk Kim Davis' appeal is pending.

Davis' lawyers argued that her "'conscience forbids her from approving a (same-sex marriage) license -- because the prescribed form mandates that she authorize the proposed union and issue a license bearing her own name and imprimatur."'

A former associate at Ropes & Gray was unable to revive his racial discrimination lawsuit after a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, The National Law Journal's Sheri Qualters reports. John Ray III alleged that he was racially discriminated against and fired because he complained about racial remarks made by the firm's parnters.

The firm told him in 2008 that he would not make partner and gave him six months to leave. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the firm didn't discriminate against Ray, but did retaliate against him for filing a charge with the EEOC.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled last week that protestors don't have the right to demonstrate closer to the U.S. Supreme Court than the sidewalk out front, The Washington Post's Robert Barnes reports. A law forbids demonstrations on the high court's grounds on the theory that closer protests could lead to the perception that the justices are swayed by public pressure.

U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote that the Supreme Court's plaza "is designed as an extension of the court ... and restrictions on protests there need only be reasonable and viewpoint-neutral."

The Federal Trade Commission has the authority to regulate lax cybersecurity as an unfair business practice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled, Bank Info Security's Tracy Kitten reports. Hotel chain Wyndham Worldwide Corp. was sued by the FTC for allegedly having inadequate security measures to protect consumer data, which the agency said violated the FTC Act's unfair business practice provisions.

Cybersecurity attorney Chris Pierson said the case "'is a seminal case for the FTC for the proposition that the FTC has the power and ability to oversee cybersecurity breach issues as the nation's default regulator."'

A state judge ruled Friday that Alaska Governor Bill Walker can expand Medicaid without legislative approval, Alaska Dispatch News' Nathaniel Herz reports. Legislators moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the expansion of coverage while they argue their underlying legal challenge to the legality of the executive action. Legislators argue that they must approve the expansion of Medicaid to groups whose coverage is not required under federal law.

However, the Alaska Supreme Court will hear the decision on appeal Monday.

The Missouri Supreme Court struck down red-light camera laws in St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Peters, The Wall Street Journal's Jacob Gershman reports. The law in St. Louis was struck down because it shifted the burden onto a defendant to prove that he or she wasn't operating the motor vehicle at the time of the violation.

The ordinances authorizing red-light camera violations in the other cities were struck down for other reasons.