The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into a new Washington state law that requires clergy to report child abuse or neglect revealed during confession.
In a May 5 announcement, the DOJ cited potential First Amendment violations and “Anti-Catholic” bias.
Senate Bill 5375, signed into law on May 2 by Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, mandates that clergy report suspected child abuse or neglect even if the information was obtained through religious confession. The law is set to take effect July 27 and does not include exemptions for clergy-penitent privilege.
According to a Justice Department press release on May 5, the law “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment,” and “singles out ‘members of the clergy’ as the only ‘supervisors’ who may not rely on applicable legal privileges, including religious confessions, as a defense to mandatory reporting.”…