Cultivated Compendium

Even though Indiana bans same-sex marriage, a federal judge ordered the recognition of the marriage of a same-sex couple who wedded in Massachusetts and now reside in Indiana, the Lafayette Journal & Courier, of Lafayette, Indiana, reports. Niki Quasney has terminal ovarian cancer, and she and her wife, Amy Sandler, now are the only same-sex couple to have their marriage legally recognized in Indiana. The judge, however, has not yet decided if all out-of-state same-sex marriages must be recognized in Indiana as a matter of comity, the Journal & Courier also reports.

Ergobaby, a manufacturer of baby carriers, has revealed itself as the company that fought to keep its court fight over a consumer product safety report secret, Legal Times reports. The Fourth Circuit ruled that the district court should not have let the company shield its name from the public as it fought to keep the Consumer Product Safety Commission from publishing an incident report about an infant's death--allegedly from one of its products--in an online database.

Patton Boggs ended its role in the environmental litigation Ecuadorian plaintiffs brought against Chevron, agreeing to pay $15 million to the energy firm and expressing regret for its role in the case, the New York Law Journal reports. An Ecuadorian court rendered a $9.5 billion verdict against Chevron for pollution left in the Amazon, but an American federal judge ruled that plaintiffs attorney Steven Donziger corrupted the Ecuadorian judiciary in an effort to win his case, the Law Journal further reports. Patton Boggs' role included seeking to enforce the judgment around the world.

The FBI is looking into the problems that led Oregon to scrap its problematic health insurance exchange, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exchange was never fully functional, WSJ adds. Oregon is joining the federal exchange instead: "The state will going forward join roughly three dozen other states and use the federal exchange, which itself suffered multiple setbacks in 2013 but has since mostly recovered," WSJ reports.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral argument this week on the constitutionality of a $500,000 damages cap for plaintiffs injured by municipal defendants, The Legal Intelligencer's Max Mitchell reports. Plaintiffs attorney Tom Kline urged the justices to overturn prior precedent that allowed a statutory cap on damages against political subdivisions.

Outside spending has been increasing in judicial campaigns, including in a primary race for the North Carolina Supreme Court, the New York Times reports. The race for the seat of North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robin Hudson has drawn more than $1 million, the Times further reports: "The costly and fierce primary shows how the revolution in financing political campaigns, with the surging role of 'super PACs' and other groups financed by corporations, unions and other interests, has entered what was the quieter arena of judicial elections."

Hudson won the primary, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Media outlets have filed an amicus brief in support of a drone hobbyist facing a $10,000 fine for using a drone to make a promotional video, Gigaom reports. The media companies argue that the Federal Aviation Administration is violating the First Amendment by banning the use of unmanned aircraft for news photography.

Read the full brief here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/222414475/NYT-Et-Al-Amicus-for-Drones

A study shows that U.S. Supreme Court justices back freedom of speech when the speakers share a similar political world view, the New York Times' Adam Liptak reports. For example, Justice Antonin Scalia voted to uphold the free speech rights of conservative speakers 65 percent of the time and liberal ones 21 percent.

A Las Vegas judge has sanctioned defense attorneys in a trial over Actos for disobeying court orders and disrupting court proceedings, The National Law Journal's Amanda Bronstad (and my colleague) reports: the lawyers, according to the trial judge's opinion, have "'“repeatedly engaged in disruptive and disrespectful behavior towards the court.'" The jury will be told of the sanctions and the judge plans to fine the lawyers $5,000 for each future violation.

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, has upheld legislative prayer in the Town of Greece v. Galloway case, Volokh Conspiracy reports. The majority ruled that opening legislative sessions with Christian prayers doesn't violate the First Amendment's ban on the government establishing religious practices. Here's the opinion: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-696_4f57.pdf