Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Facebook bans Alex Jones, other extremist figures

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it was banning Alex Jones and other controversial U.S. political personalities for violating the social media company's policies on "dangerous individuals and organizations." Most of the individuals whose accounts are being removed are popular figures on the far right, including commentators Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer and Paul Joseph Watson. As measles returns, U.S. states look to cut vaccine exemptions

Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nation's largest measles outbreak in 25 years. State legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa are looking at similar bills that would only allow exemptions from vaccinations for medical reasons as determined by the child's doctor. Rights groups sue over U.S. decision to hold asylum seekers without bond

Immigrant rights groups asked a U.S. court on Thursday to reverse a Trump administration decision that allows asylum seekers who cross the border illegally to be held without bond. The groups, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, say an April 16 decision by U.S. Attorney General William Barr violates the asylum seekers' rights under U.S. law and puts thousands of people at risk of being detained for months or years while they wait for their cases to work their way through a backlogged immigration court system. ABCs of LGBTQ history mandated for more U.S. public schools

A picture book for second graders about a family with two moms. A lesson for fourth graders about Gold Rush era stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst, who was born a woman but lived as a man. These are just some of the ways U.S. public school students will learn about LGBTQ - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender queer - history in a growing number of states moving to mandate inclusive K-12 curriculum. It is the latest chapter in a decades-long push to teach students about the trials and contributions of marginalized communities - from suffragettes to black Americans - whose stories have often been absent from classrooms. Georgia executes man convicted of 1994 murder of two women

The U.S. state of Georgia on Thursday executed a 52-year-old man convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends during an argument in 1994. Scotty Garnell Morrow was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 9:38 p.m. eastern time at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, the state department of corrections said in a statement. Founder, execs of drug company guilty in conspiracy that fed opioid crisis

The founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc on Thursday became the highest-ranking pharmaceutical executive to be convicted in a case tied to the U.S. opioid crisis, when he and four colleagues were found guilty of participating in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe an addictive painkiller. A federal jury in Boston found John Kapoor, the drugmaker's former chairman, and his co-defendants guilty of racketeering conspiracy for engaging in a scheme that also misled insurers into paying for the drug. Minnesota governor signs law making marital rape illegal

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday signed a law that repeals the state's marital rape exception, which protected rapists against prosecution if they lived and had an ongoing sexual relationship with the victim. Walz, a Democrat, signed the bill in St. Paul, saying that the "reprehensible exception should never have been part of our criminal statutes." Accused gunman in North Carolina college shooting due in court

A former student at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte was due to appear in court on Thursday, accused of murdering two students and attempting to kill others when he opened fire in a crowded classroom on Tuesday. Trystan Andrew Terrell, 22, was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder after police and witnesses say he began firing a handgun in a classroom full of nearly 50 students on UNC Charlotte's campus shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Baltimore mayor quits amid questions over $500,000 book deal

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, whose home and offices were raided by federal agents last week as part of an investigation into her financial dealings, abruptly resigned on Thursday. Pugh, a Democrat and former state lawmaker, apologized for harming the city's image in a statement read by her lawyer. Maine Senate rejects ending religious exemptions for vaccinations

An effort to end all non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccinations in Maine was in limbo on Thursday after the state Senate voted to amend it to allow parents to keep opting out on religious grounds. The bill had passed the Democratic-controlled state House of Representatives last month, making Maine one of at least seven states considering ending non-medical exemptions amid the worst outbreak of measles in the United States in 25 years.