Overview

• On June 23 the Justice Department filed a complaint in intervention in federal court against Senate Bill 5375.
• Signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the law requires clergy to report suspected child abuse revealed in confession under threat of jail time and fines.
• The department contends the mandate violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by targeting the priest-penitent privilege.
• Washington’s Catholic bishops and priests have vowed civil disobedience, noting that breaking the seal of confession triggers automatic excommunication.
• With the law set to take effect on July 27, a federal court is poised to weigh religious freedom claims against mandatory child-abuse reporting requirements.