(Getty Images)
Catholic priests in Washington cannot be required to report abuse of children or neglect, which they learn about in confession, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
Chief Judge of US District Court David G. Estudilo provide a preliminary order sought by three Catholic bishopsTemporary blocking the application of a controversial element in a new state law, which will enter into force on July 27.
Exploration He ruled that the requirement of disclosure of information priests has heard in the confession of the right to their first amendment to the right to practice religion and will force them to violate their sacred vows or to encounter punishment by the state.
The decision means that the clergy will be added to the state list of professions that they have to report to law enforcement agencies when they have a “reasonable reason to believe that the child has suffered abuse or neglect.”
But the state cannot require Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima and Bishop Thomas Dali Dali – the three who brought the case – or any Catholic priest in Washington under their leadership to disclose such information that he hears in confession.
“There is no doubt that the free exercise of SB 5375 religion is stressing religion,” Estudillo wrote in a 25 -page decision issued four days after a court hearing at Tacoma.
The legislation “sets them in a position or to comply with the requirements of their faith or to violate the law. The consequences of violating the law are serious and, as the plaintiffs claim, the consequences of violating the mysterious seal are increasingly serious,” he writes.
The service of General Prosecutor Nick Brown stressed that the decision applies only to the “mystery of confession” and that if the clergy is learned to abuse any other situation, the order does not change, that they will be assigned to reporters. Brown did not provide additional comment.
The decision praised the leaders of Catholic church leaders and the lawyers who brought the case.
“By protecting the seal of confession, the court also defended the basic principle that people of all religions should be free to practice their beliefs without government intervention,” said Mark Riens, president and CEO of Beckett, one of the legal teams.
Jean Hill, CEO of the Catholic Conference of Washington, said the Catholic Verdis had sought reconciliation with God through the mystery of confession for centuries.
“This decision protects this sacred space and guarantees that Washingtonians of all religious stripes can experience their beliefs in peace,” she said in a statement.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed the legislation In early May. Ferguson, Catholic, said the requirement of disclosure for information extracted in recognition did not give him a pause and he was disappointed that his church is judging “for the protection of people who abuse children.”
The law adds clergy to a list that includes school staff, nurses, social service advisers, psychologists and many others who need to report suspected abuse or neglect.
The Member of the Clergy is defined in the legislation to cover all regularly licensed, accredited or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, I have, an elder or a similarly positioned religious or spiritual leader.
Violations of the law carry potential sanctions up to 364 days in prison, a fine of $ 5,000 and civil liability.
The three bishops submitted their Case 29 MayNaming Ferguson, Brown and the prosecutor’s office of prosecutors in each of the 39 Washington counties as defendants.
Prosecutors for the County did not take sides in this dispute. Collectively, they agreed to accept a preliminary order as long as the plaintiffs do not seek lawyer fees from them.
This mainly puts the counties on the sidelines, said Jeff En, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Snyahmish County.
State lawyers claim that the law may experience a challenge for a first amendment, since it was adapted to serve the insurmountable state interest in pursuing perpetrators of violence against children.
But in his decision, Estudilo stated that the state “may” choose a less restrictive means of advancing its interest “by adding members of the clergy to the list of mandate reporters and providing a close exception to the confession, as other countries do.
The bishops’ lawyers claim that the law treats Catholic priests and the religious activity of confession, different from other professions that include confidential conversations. They pointed a house Bill 1171 who It also comes into force on July 27S
This law releases attorneys hired by public or private higher education institutions, and employees under their supervision, from their compulsory accounting obligations, if the information received is related to the presentation of a client.
Estudilo agreed, deciding this undermined the argument of the state that he did not devote church practice.
“The controversial state interest in both statutes – the protection of children from abuse and neglect – is the same.
“Ultimately, Washington’s inability to demonstrate why there is an interest in the highest Order to refuse to release the clergy while providing such exemptions to others Professionals who work with underestimated children … Probably fatal ”to the law, the judge added.
Last month, the US Department of Justice is striving Join the Legal Struggle as an intervention party on the side of the bishops. Estudillo filed the request. The Trump administration also filed a separate request for a preliminary order. He is planned for hearing next week.
Meanwhile, such a legal battle is developing in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Washington. The Orthodox Church of America, along with other churches and individual priests, filed a case against civil servants and district prosecutorsclaiming that the law violates the right to a first amendment to practice one’s religion.
SB 5375 pre -order with a solution
US District Judge David G. Estudilo on July 18, 2025, issuing a preliminary order, partly blocking the application of the Senate 5375 bill.