OLYMPIA, WA – The Catholic Bishops of Washington on Thursday asked a federal court to block a new state law requiring priests to report instances of child abuse or neglect – even when it’s disclosed in confession – before the law takes effect this summer.
Senate Bill 5375 makes members of the clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, meaning religious leaders – ministers, priests, rabbis and others – would be required to report suspected child abuse and neglect. That means priests would be required to break the sacred seal of confession or face fines and jail time.
First Liberty Institute is one of the groups representing Archbishop Paul Etienne, Bishop Thomas Daly, and Bishop Joseph Tyson, who filed an initial lawsuit in federal court last week.
First Liberty Institute Attorney Hiram Sasser told The Center Square that his clients’ focus is on protecting the confessional.
Confessional privilege, or priest-penitent privilege, is the legal protection afforded to confidential communications between a religious leader and a congregation member. This privilege generally prevents a religious leader from being compelled to disclose the content of such communications in court or to law enforcement.
“The actual sacrament of confession, that is the issue,” Sasser said. “That’s the piece of the law that there is the problem [with], but otherwise the church is very supportive of the law and supportive of the aims of it.”
SB 5375 adds clergy to the list of mandatory reporters that already includes school personnel, nurses, counselors, psychologists, and many others who have reason to believe a child has been abused.
“You can think of a million different scenarios where the reporting would take place and happily so, to do what’s right,” Sasser continued. “It’s just unfortunate that the law’s picking up this one little area of the actual sacrament of confession.”
He said government is going too far with this new law.
“It’s an overreach on religious liberty, and it can have a negative impact on the religious liberty of other faiths as well, depending upon what the circumstances are, because there [are] a lot of reasons why you might want to regulate something,” Sasser said. “But I think the law here just went that little extra step too far on the sacrament of confession,” he said.
A hearing in the case is likely to occur this summer.
Washington joins a handful of other states that require individuals to report suspected child abuse or neglect, regardless of their profession: New Hampshire, West Virginia, Indiana, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Supporters of SB 5375 say it’s necessary to protect children and young people.
Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, sponsored the bill for a third time, finding success during the 2025 legislative session.
“The Jehovah’s Witness community had been covering up sexual abuse of children for years,” she said during a Jan. 28 Senate Human Services Committee hearing. “We did not have a mandated reporter law. That was about the only thing that would have forced those local leaders to report, rather than send that information up to their national hierarchy to then be covered up.”
Frame was referring to a 2022 report by Investigate West concerning a lawsuit against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Spokane and an alleged cover-up of abuse by church elders.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it has opened a civil rights investigation into the law based on its potential conflict with religious freedom under the First Amendment.
