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DOJ Opens Investigation Into Washington Law Targeting Catholic Confession, by Elise DeGeeter – Brown Pelican Society of Lousiana

DOJ Opens Investigation Into Washington Law Targeting Catholic Confession, by Elise DeGeeter

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*Image: The Confession, 1838, detail by Giuseppe Molteni, 1838 [Gallerie di Piazza Scala]

By Elise DeGeeter on May 5, 2025

CV NEWS FEED // The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday it launched a civil rights investigation into a new Washington state law that would force Catholic priests to report child abuse, even when disclosed during the sacrament of confession.

The law, SB 5375, signed May 2 by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, is set to take effect July 27. It adds clergy to the list of professionals legally required to report suspected abuse, explicitly eliminating legal protections for the confessional seal.

In a press release Monday, the DOJ said the law “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment.”

“SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. …

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