Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. In U.S., pope's summit on sex abuse seen as too little, too late

In the study of his home outside Washington, victims’ advocate Tom Doyle searched a shelf packed with books to find the thick report that led him to stop practicing as a priest and devote himself to helping those who had been sexually abused by clergymen. The 1985 report was one of the first exposes in a sexual abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has called senior bishops to meet for four days starting on Thursday to discuss how to tackle the worsening crisis. Snow, sleet threaten U.S. East Coast, hinder hundreds of flights

A winter storm bore down on the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday, threatening to snarl New York City's evening commute after hindering air travel along the East Coast and prompting the shutdown of federal offices in Washington. Snow turning to sleet slickened roadways in the New York metropolitan area by the early afternoon and was blamed for a rash of fender benders and traffic jams. West Virginia teachers to return to work after two-day strike

Union leaders for West Virginia teachers ended a two-day strike on Wednesday that they had called to oppose charter schools, clearing the way for classes to resume for about 270,000 students. The state's educators, among the lowest-paid in the nation, sparked a wave of U.S. teachers' strikes last year when they walked off the job to demand higher pay. That nine-day strike ended after West Virginia agreed to a 5 percent raise. Constitution's 'excessive fines' ban bolstered by U.S. high court

In a decision that may curb the rise of financial penalties and property seizures in the U.S. criminal justice system, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time ruled that the U.S. Constitution's ban on "excess fines" applies to states as well as the federal government. The nine justices ruled unanimously in favor of an Indiana man named Tyson Timbs who argued that police violated his rights by seizing his $42,000 Land Rover vehicle after he was convicted as a heroin dealer. Actor Jussie Smollett arrested in Chicago: police spokesman

Actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested after he was charged with lying to police when he claimed he was attacked and beaten by two masked men shouting racist and homophobic slurs, Chicago police said on Thursday on Twitter. Smollett, a 36-year-old black, openly gay actor on the hip-hop TV drama "Empire," ignited a firestorm on social media by telling police on Jan. 29 that two apparent supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump had struck him, put a noose around his neck and poured bleach over him. Woman who joined Islamic State cannot return to U.S., Pompeo says

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday a woman born in the United States who joined the Islamic State militant group did not qualify for U.S. citizenship and had no legal basis to return to the country. Hoda Muthana, 24, traveled to Syria over four years ago to join Islamic State, also known as ISIS. She married a succession of Islamic State fighters and went on Twitter to encourage attacks on the West. Trump 'fear-mongering' fuels rise of U.S. hate groups to record: watchdog

The number of hate groups operating in the United States rose 7 percent to an all-time high last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center said on Wednesday, attributing the increase largely to anti-immigrant rhetoric from President Donald Trump. The SPLC, which has tracked hate groups since 1971, found there were 1,020 operating in the United States in 2018, breaking the 1,018 record set in 2011. It marked the fourth consecutive year of growth. U.S. arrests Coast Guard officer who planned mass attack: prosecutors

U.S. authorities have arrested a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant who described himself as a white nationalist and amassed a cache of weapons to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents. Christopher Paul Hasson, who is assigned to the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington and lives in a Maryland suburb, had drawn up a list of possible targets, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and MSNBC television host Joe Scarborough, prosecutors said in court documents. Oakland teachers head for picket lines, schools remain open

Some 3,000 teachers in Oakland headed to the picket lines on Thursday to strike over issues including the closing of two dozen schools and demands for a pay raise, in the latest of a wave of actions by U.S. educators that began last year. The Oakland Unified School District vowed to keep schools open during the strike, saying it will use central office employees, principals and temporary emergency teachers to educate the district's 37,000 students. Johnson & Johnson receives federal subpoenas related to baby powder litigation

Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it has received subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to litigation involving alleged asbestos contamination in its signature Baby Powder product line. The company said it intends to "cooperate fully with these inquiries and will continue to defend the Company in the talc-related litigation."