WASHINGTON (DC)
The Olympian [Olympia WA]
June 24, 2025
By Simone Carter
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a new Washington state law that requires clergy members to report suspected child abuse, the agency announced May 5.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that it is suing the state of Washington over a new law making clergy members mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.
The department claims that Senate Bill 5375, which takes effect July 27, is “anti-Catholic.” But supporters of the measure reject the idea that the legislation targets Catholics, arguing that protecting kids from abusers should be a nonpartisan notion.
The lawsuit was filed Monday, June 23, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma.
Under the new law, clergy is defined to include priests, ministers, rabbis, elders, imams and any other regularly licensed, accredited or ordained spiritual or religious heads. They’ll join nurses, school personnel, psychologists and other professionals who already are required to report when they suspect that a minor has experienced abuse or neglect.
State Sen. Noel Frame, the bill’s prime sponsor, has explained that she first introduced the measure years ago after reading InvestigateWest’s coverage of a lawsuit alleging that a Spokane-based Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation had covered up child abuse committed by an elder.
But the DOJ claims that intervention against the state is needed because SB 5375 violates Catholics’ free exercise of religion.
The department also says the law forces Catholic priests to break the confidentiality seal of confession — a sacred rite that exposes violators to excommunication from the church. SB 5375, the department says, infringes on the U.S. Constitution’s First and 14th amendments.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release that the law “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.
“The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion,” Dhillon continued.
Gov. Bob Ferguson didn’t hold back when reached for comment.
“It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see the DOJ seek to shield and protect child abusers,” he said in an emailed statement.
At last month’s bill-signing ceremony for SB 5375, Ferguson noted that Washington is one of five states that doesn’t currently designate clergy as mandatory reporters.
Certain Washington Catholic leaders have sharply condemned SB 5375.
The justice department says it’s intervening in Etienne v. Ferguson, which was brought against the new law late last month by a group of Catholic priests and bishops. They argued that priests in Washington are being forced to pick between their faith and the law, and that the church already has strict policies to protect minors.
Frame said in a Monday statement that every step must be taken to ensure that kids are safe.
SB 5375 brings Washington state into line with most other states that require clergy to report on child neglect and abuse, she added.
“We also join six other states — including Texas and Oklahoma — that require the reporting of abuse learned during penitential communication, including confession,” Frame said. “Whether you’re from a red state or a blue state, keeping kids safe from abuse should be a non-partisan issue.”
The DOJ’s lawsuit claims that SB 5375 will effectively inspire a “chilling effect,” both for Catholic practitioners and priests, in their “willingness to adhere to the sacred rite of Confession.”
Some Catholics may fear that if their confession reveals a lack of proper medical or child care, priests might interpret that as “neglect,” prompting a child-welfare probe, the argument goes.
The Justice Department is asking for a declaration that the law violates Catholic priests’ rights under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. They also want the state of Washington to be permanently enjoined from carrying out SB 5375 against Catholic priests who decline to disclose details learned during confession.
The Washington Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the DOJ’s complaint and “will respond in court,” a spokesperson said via email.
The Washington State Republican Party issued a news release supporting the DOJ’s lawsuit. Chairman Jim Walsh, who’s also a Republican state representative from Aberdeen, stated that the bill’s critics pointed out during House floor debate that the proposal had “constitutional defects.”
“We want to end child sex abuse, but SB 5375 was never the right way,” Walsh said. “Gov. Ferguson should have known better than to sign it.”
Read more at: https://www.theolympian.com/news/state/washington/article309249565.html#storylink=cpy