Washington’s leading Catholic bishops filed a lawsuit Thursday contending the new state law requiring religious leaders to report child abuse or neglect, even when it is disclosed in confession, is unconstitutional and should be invalidated.
They argue the law violates their First Amendment right to practice religion free of government interference, and is religious discrimination because it will force priests to violate their sacred vows or face punishment by the state.
It also violates a provision of the state constitution guaranteeing “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship,” they assert.
They want the law set aside and an injunction barring criminal investigations or prosecution of Roman Catholic clergy for not divulging information learned in confession.
The new law “puts Roman Catholic priests to an impossible choice: violate 2,000 years of Church teaching and incur automatic excommunication or refuse to comply with Washington law and be subject to imprisonment, fine, and civil liability,” the suit reads.
Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, along with Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima and Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, are the lead plaintiffs in the suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Gov. Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown and the prosecuting attorney in each of Washington’s 39 counties are named as defendants.
Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty Institute, one of the groups representing the bishops, called the law “a brazen act of religious discrimination.”
“For centuries, Catholic priests have been willing to die as martyrs rather than violate this sacred duty. A few politicians in Washington state won’t break them. And the Constitution protects them,” he said in a statement.
First Liberty Institute represented the Bremerton High School football coach who successfully challenged his firing for gathering with players to pray on the field following games. That case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mike Faulk, a spokesman for the Washington attorney general, said in an email that they are reviewing the suit.
Ferguson issued a statement late Thursday.
“I’m disappointed my Church is filing a federal lawsuit to protect individuals who abuse kids,” he said.
This legal fight centers on Senate Bill 5375, which Ferguson signed into law on May 2 and will take effect July 27.
It adds clergy members to the state’s list of individuals legally required to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Disclosures in confession or other rites where the religious leader is bound to confidentiality are not exempt. But under the law, they will retain their privilege to not be compelled to testify in related court cases or criminal proceedings.
Catholic leaders assert in the suit that existing policies adopted by the dioceses in Seattle, Yakima and Spokane “go further in the protection of children than the current requirements of Washington law.”
They also iterate that confession of sins is one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church and is protected by the sacramental seal, which forbids sharing anything disclosed by a penitent.
“The use of a religious practice to further the State’s policy goals violates basic constitutional principles prohibiting the excessive entanglement of church and state,” the suit reads. With the law in place, priests would be forced to choose between “temporal criminal punishment and eternal damnation,” it adds.
The Washington State Catholic Conference opposed the bill largely because it did not exempt disclosures heard in the confessional.
“This trust is sacred, and any law that jeopardizes it risks discouraging those who recognize the harm they have caused from seeking moral guidance,” said Jean Hill, the organization’s executive director, in a statement.
On May 5, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had opened a civil rights investigation into the “apparent conflict” of the new law with “the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment.”
Attorney General Nick Brown responded last week, saying that, “after careful consideration, we do not believe the Department has the legal authority to investigate the development and passage of our state law.”
When he signed the bill, Ferguson said keeping the confessional in the bill did not give him pause.
As a Catholic, he said, “I’m very familiar with it. Been to confession, myself. I felt this was important legislation for protecting kids.”
This story was originally published in the Washington State Standard.
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