Washington state has agreed not to force Catholic priests to report confessions of abuse, putting an end to a legal battle over a controversial new state law.
According to an agreement reached in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, state officials accepted a permanent injunction against enforcing the law against “the Catholic Sacrament of Confession and/or any other privileged communication.”
“State Defendants and County Prosecutor Defendants agree not to appeal the Preliminary Injunction order … or to appeal from or otherwise challenge the enforceability or validity of this Stipulated Permanent Injunction Order and Final Judgment, or any other rulings entered to date in this matter by this Court, in this or any other proceeding,” noted the district court order.
“State Defendants and County Prosecutor Defendants agree that the Court’s Stipulated Permanent Injunction Order and Final Judgment in this matter has the same force and precedential effect as if it had been entered following a dispositive motion or trial on the merits.”
Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket Law, which had helped to represent the plaintiffs, said in a statement released Friday that the agreement marked “a victory for religious freedom.”
“Washington was wise to walk away from this draconian law and allow Catholic clergy to continue ministering to the faithful,” stated Rienzi.
“This is a victory for religious freedom and for common sense. Priests should never be forced to make the impossible choice of betraying their sacred vows or going to jail.”
Washington’s Office of the Attorney General issued a press release noting that, under the agreement, clergy in the state will remain mandatory reporters under circumstances outside of the confessional.
“Today’s agreement respects the court’s decision in this case and maintains important protections for children,” said Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. “It keeps crucial portions of Washington’s mandatory reporting law in place, while also preserving the Legislature’s authority to address issues with the law identified by the court.”
In May, Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5375 into law after it was passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature largely along party lines, with the Senate approving it in a 28-20 vote and the House of Representatives passing it in a 64-31 vote.
SB 5375 added clergy to a list of professionals who must report instances of child abuse or neglect to law enforcement, even if that report came through “privileged communication.”
“It’s long past time for this protection for children,” said Democrat Sen. Noel Frame of Seattle, the sponsor of the legislation, as quoted by The Washington State Standard in April.
“Members of the clergy play such an important role in the lives of children, like teachers and doctors do, and just like those other trusted adults, clergy should be mandatory reporters.”
The measure was criticized by many, including Roman Catholic Church officials and conservatives, who argued that the law violated religious freedom, especially Catholic teaching.
Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the measure, said in a statement that “priests cannot comply with this law if the knowledge of abuse is obtained during the Sacrament of Reconciliation.”
Etienne vowed that the archdiocese “remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people.”
“People of every religion in the state of Washington and beyond should be alarmed by this overreach of our Legislature and governor,” the archbishop added.
In June, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint in intervention against the state law, arguing that it “unlawfully targets clergy and, specifically, Catholic priests.”
