The Department of Justice on Monday joined a lawsuit against Washington state over a new law compelling Catholic priests to disclose reports of child abuse or neglect that are shared during confession.
The Justice Department said it is joining the federal lawsuit originally filed by the state’s Catholic leaders because the law violates the vow of confidentiality taken by clergy to serve churchgoers seeking penance. The law, known as Senate Bill 5375, was signed last month by Gov. Bob Ferguson and takes effect July 27.
“Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
“Senate Bill 5375 unconstitutionally forces Catholic priests in Washington to choose between their obligations to the Catholic Church and their penitents or face criminal consequences, while treating the priest-penitent privilege differently than other well-settled privileges,” Ms. Dhillon said. “The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
Federal prosecutors argue the law violates the First and 14th Amendments. The DOJ said its motion to intervene in the lawsuit, Etienne v. Ferguson, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Mr. Ferguson, a Democrat, in early May signed the law requiring Catholic priests to report child abuse. Priests could face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine if they don’t disclose confessions about abuse.
“Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing. This bill protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm,” Mr. Ferguson said during the bill signing.
The governor said he is a Catholic himself and that he felt the need to crack down on potential child abuse overrides the religion’s concerns about confidentiality.
The Washington State Catholic Conference has spoken out against the law, saying it strong-arms clergymen into breaking their sacred promise to their penitents.
Catholic bishops from across the state filed a federal lawsuit against the government, Etienne v. Ferguson, which the DOJ is now looking to take over.
Many church leaders have been defiant over the law’s implications.
“I want to assure you that your shepherds, bishop and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail,” Bishop Thomas Daly of the Diocese of Spokane said in a statement after the law was signed. “The Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.”
