The Trump administration is suing the state of Washington over a newly enacted law requiring Catholic priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, even if the information is obtained during sacramental confession — a move the Justice Department said is a direct attack on religious liberty.
In a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division argued that Washington’s Senate Bill 5375 violates the First and 14th amendments by compelling clergy to report what they learn in confession or face criminal penalties.
Confession is one of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Disclosing any information a parishioner shares during these sessions is grounds for the excommunication of a priest from the Catholic Church. However, if a priest fails to report suspected abuse, even if they learn of it during confession, they could face almost a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
“SB 5375 unconstitutionally forces Catholic priests in Washington to choose between their obligations to the Catholic Church and their penitents or face criminal consequences,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a President Donald Trump appointee. “The Justice Department will not sit idly by when states mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
Signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson (D-WA) on May 2, SB 5375 goes into effect July 27. It designates clergy members, including priests, rabbis, imams, and ministers, as mandatory reporters, requiring them to notify law enforcement if they have “reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.”
While most U.S. states with such laws provide an exemption for clergy when the information is obtained solely during religious confession, Washington’s law does not. According to the DOJ’s lawsuit, that means priests must violate religious canon law, which strictly forbids breaching the seal of confession under penalty of excommunication, or risk prosecution.
“By design, SB 5375 directly interferes with and substantially burdens this sacred rite,” the DOJ wrote in a 47-page complaint. “It strips Catholic priests of their ability to rely on legal privileges protecting religious communication, compelling them to disclose even what has been heard only in confession.”
The lawsuit noted that the department is not challenging the idea of making clergy-mandated reporters in general, but objects specifically to the absence of an exemption for confessional communications.
Washington joins a small number of states, including New Hampshire and West Virginia, that do not permit religious exemptions for reporting suspected child abuse, according to federal data compiled by the Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Last week, several Orthodox churches joined a lawsuit against the Washington law filed earlier this year by Catholic bishops. The conservative legal group Alliance for Defending Freedom, which filed on the churches’ behalf, argued in a press release that the state is singling out priests by punishing them for respecting the confidence of the confessional while preserving privacy for disclosures in nonreligious situations.
The DOJ first launched an investigation into the law last month, warning that it “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment.”
Shortly after filing the lawsuit Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi lauded Dhillon for her work in the Civil Rights Division, saying she speaks with her “almost daily” and that her team is working to “protect people of all religions.”
Meanwhile, Washington’s Democratic governor has dismissed concerns about the law as political, saying the state would “protect Washington kids from sexual abuse in the face of this ‘investigation.’”
“I always have a personal perspective on this,” Ferguson said last month. “For me, this is very clear and important legislation.”
A MYOPIC THREAT TO CATHOLIC PRIESTS TO BREAK THE SEAL OF CONFESSION
However, Dhillon said Washington’s attempt to override religious doctrine could not stand.
“Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession have no place in our society,” she said.
