A federal judge in the Western District of Washington has issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a new state law, SB 5375, that would have required clergy, including Catholic priests, to report suspected child abuse or neglect, even if the information was obtained during sacramental confession.
Signed into law by Governor Bob Ferguson on May 2, 2025, Senate Bill 5375 (SB 5375) is set to take effect July 27, 2025. The statute expands Washington’s mandatory reporter law to include “any member of the clergy”—explicitly specifying priests, rabbis, imams, and other religious leaders—as individuals required to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect to authorities within 48 hours. Failure to comply can result in criminal penalties, including jail time and fines, as well as civil liability.
Critically, SB 5375 strips clergy of the legal privilege that typically protects the confidentiality of religious communications, most notably the Catholic sacrament of confession, when the suspected abuse information is learned during the exercise of religious duties.
The lawsuit, brought by Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima, and Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane, argued that SB 5375 violated their First Amendment rights by forcing them to choose between obeying civil law and the Church’s absolute prohibition against breaking the seal of confession.
In the United States, approximately 4% of Catholic priests from 1950-2002 were accused of sexual abuse, with tens of thousands of victims identified in investigations over the decades.
According to the landmark John Jay Report commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, approximately 11,000 allegations of child sexual abuse were made against 4,392 Catholic priests in the U.S. between 1950 and 2002.
A 2019 Associated Press investigation found nearly 1,700 priests and other clergy in the U.S. considered credibly accused of child sexual abuse, many still living without oversight years after their accusations. Other denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Church, have also faced recent scandals, one investigation revealed around 700 victims abused by church leaders and staff in that denomination alone.
Judge David G. Estudillo found in favor of the plaintiffs, noting that the law was not neutral or generally applicable and failed strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause. The court held the state did not prove it had a compelling interest that could not be met through less restrictive means, especially since the law created exemptions for secular professions such as university attorneys while targeting clergy for stricter treatment.
The Trump administration expressed strong support for the ruling and the plaintiffs’ right to the free exercise of religion. The Department of Justice intervened as plaintiffs, arguing that the statute unconstitutionally targeted religious practice and that similar protections for confessional confidentiality exist across the country.
The brief also alleges that by compelling priests to disclose information heard during confession, the law violates the First Amendment right to freely exercise religion.
Unless overturned, the injunction will remain in effect while the underlying lawsuit proceeds. The court did not reach decisions on related church autonomy and Establishment Clause claims, focusing exclusively on the Free Exercise Clause for the injunction.
