Overview
- State and county prosecutors agreed not to enforce reporting based on information obtained solely through the Catholic sacrament of confession or other privileged communications.
- Clergy remain mandatory reporters for suspected abuse learned outside the confessional, preserving the core of the new law.
- The parties’ filing describes a stipulated permanent injunction and includes commitments by state and county defendants not to appeal.
- The agreement follows a July preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge David Estudillo and lawsuits by Catholic leaders, with the U.S. Department of Justice intervening.
- The stipulated order has been filed in federal court in Tacoma, with some reports noting it still awaits formal judicial approval.