The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Washington State on June 23, challenging Senate Bill 5375, a new law that requires clergy, including Catholic priests, to report child abuse or neglect, even if learned during the sacrament of Confession. The DOJ argues the law violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise of Religion clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by forcing priests to choose between their religious vows and criminal penalties.
Signed by Governor Bob Ferguson on May 2 which goes into effect on July 27, 2025, the law mandates clergy to report credible knowledge of child abuse, regardless of how it’s obtained. The DOJ claims it unconstitutionally targets Catholic priests, who face excommunication for breaking the sacred seal of Confession, a cornerstone of Catholic doctrine.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon called the law an attack on religious freedom, arguing it unfairly singles out clergy compared to other professionals with reporting privileges.
“Laws that explicitly target religious practices such as the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church have no place in our society,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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. The Justice Department will not sit idly by when States mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”
Supporters of SB 5375, led by the Clergy Accountability Coalition, insist the law is about protecting children, not targeting religion. They note it applies to all faiths and aligns Washington state with other states and territories such as New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Guam, Texas, West Virginia, North Carolina and Oklahoma which have similar mandates.
Sharon Huling, co-founder of the Catholic Accountability Project emphasized that existing state laws already remove privileges for other mandatory reporters, like parents, in child abuse cases.
“5375 does not specify other mandatory reporters because state statute already removes privileged communications for them when the knowledge pertains to child abuse or neglect,” said Huling. “Even parents can be compelled to testify against a spouse when it involves the safety and security of their child.”
Mary Dispenza, a former nun and abuse survivor and co-founder of Survivors Against Abuse by Priests, shared her story with lawmakers of confessing abuse as a child, only for her priest to take no action.
“I was raped by the parish priest when I was seven and I buried it,” Dispenza said. “At 18, as a young nun, I finally told my confessor about the rape naming my abuser, whom he knew. He did nothing and the pedophile priest went on to abuse 40 more children in Los Angeles. The Catholic seal of confession did not protect me.”
Opponents, including Representative Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen), argue the law is flawed. Walsh, who criticized SB 5375 during House debates, called it a violation of Washington’s Constitution and a misstep in addressing child abuse.
“During House floor debate on SB 5375, we pointed out its constitutional defects,” wrote Rep. Walsh (R-Aberdeen) in statement on X shortly after the DOJ’s announcement of its lawsuit on Monday. “It [the bill] clearly violates Art 1, Sec 11, of the WA Constitution. We want to end child sex abuse, but SB 5375 was never the right way. Current Gov Ferguson should have known better than to sign it. Fail.”
Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, on the day Gov. Ferguson signed SB 5375 into law, vowed that priests in his diocese would uphold the sanctity of Confession, even at the risk of jail time.
Governor Ferguson, defending the law during the bill signing said, “Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing. This bill protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm.”
The bill was introduced by Senator Noel Frame (D-Seattle)—co-sponsored by and co-sponsored by Senator Claire Wilson, Senator Jessica Bateman, Senator Manka Dhingra, Senator T’wina Nobles, and Senator Javier Valdez—cleared the House 64-31 and the Senate 28-20.
The DOJ’s lawsuit, filed as a motion to intervene in Etienne v. Ferguson, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Author: Mario Lotmore
