DOJ sues Washington state over Catholic confession law

Federal prosecutors filed an intervening lawsuit against the state of Washington over a state law requiring Roman Catholic priests to divulge information shared during the sacrament of confession, the Department of Justice said in a news release Monday. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the law in May, adding clergy members to the list of people legally required to report child abuse or neglect to police. Senate Bill 5375 violates the First Amendment rights of all Catholics and forces priests to break the confidentiality seal of confession, the DOJ alleged. The previous statute exempted clergy and licensed mental health professionals from being mandatory reporters, citing their conversations as privileged. However, the new statute does not give Catholic priests a religious exemption from reporting even if the abuse is discovered during confession.

Why is it bad that clergy would be forced to report abuse? As a holy sacrament, confession conversations remain confidential, and any priest who breaks that confidentiality may be excommunicated. A group of priests sued the state late last month, with one of the priests who is party to the lawsuit insisting he would be jailed before breaking the seal of confession. Laws that specifically target religious practices have no place in our society, according to Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Senate Bill 5375 forces priests to violate their obligation to the church or face criminal action, he said. The DOJ won’t sit by while states attack free religious exercise, Dhillon added.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s previous report for more background on the law.