OLYMPIA, Washington (LifeSiteNews) — Washington bishops and Catholic priests sued the state over its law that threatens priests with jail time unless they excommunicate themselves by breaking the Seal of Confessional.
The bill, signed earlier this month by liberal Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson, orders priests to disclose certain cases of reported abuses even if they hear of it in the confessional. Liberal Democratic Senator Noel Frame brought the bill after she tried other times to bring a similar version. Both Ferguson and Frame, who are pro-abortion and support the LGBT agenda, referenced their alleged Catholic faith as an attempt to deflect criticism.
“My uncle was a Jesuit priest for many years, (I’ve) been to Confession myself – and so I’m very familiar with that,” Ferguson said during the signing. “I felt this was important legislation,” he added. Frame, for her part, has brushed off concerns about the bill, making the claim the Catholic Church can, and should, change canon law to conform to her political wishes. “There’s nothing to say they cannot change their rules,” Frame incorrectly told the media.
Now they are facing a lawsuit due to their efforts to undermine the rule of law and religious liberty. The state is already under federal investigation by the Department of Justice for the law.
Filed on Thursday in federal court, the lawsuit names Gov. Ferguson, the attorney general, and all county prosecuting attorneys in the state as plaintiffs.
The lawsuit points out the bill would violate 2,000 years of Church history in a “brazen act of religious discrimination.”
The lawsuit, filed by local attorneys as well as the Becket Fund and First Liberty Institute, also notes that, while Washington has removed privileges for Catholic priests, it has expanded exemptions for professionals who learn of abuse.
The state’s actions present not just temporal problems, but eternal ones.
As attorneys for the bishops write:
Putting clergy to the choice between temporal criminal punishment and eternal damnation, interfering with the internal governance and discipline of the Catholic Church, and targeting religion for the abrogation of all privileges, is a patent violation of both the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and a violation of Article I, Section 11 of the Washington Constitution.
Catholics must confess mortal sins in order to return to a state of grace, the lawsuit reminds the court system.
Attorneys also point out legal precedent clearly protects priests from being forced to divulge what they hear in Confession. “The priest-penitent privilege recognizes the human need to disclose to a spiritual counselor, in total and absolute confidence, what are believed to be flawed acts or thoughts and to receive priestly consolation and guidance in return,” Trammel v. United States, a 1980 Supreme Court case, clearly states.
“For centuries, Catholic priests have been willing to die as martyrs rather than violate this sacred duty,” First Liberty Institute attorney Hiram Sasser told the media. “A few politicians in Washington state won’t break them. And the Constitution protects them.”
Indeed, well known legal scholar Jonathan Turley previously warned that efforts in Washington and Montana to toss priests in jail for not violating the Seal of Confessional were clearly unconstitutional.
‘Frontal attack’ on the First Amendment
Turley, who is Catholic, wrote, “the Washington State law is a frontal attack on free exercise and would be struck down if enacted.”
“The only question is why Democrats consider such legislation to be any more viable politically than it is constitutionally,” the George Washington University professor wrote in February on his legal commentary website.
Accomplished litigator Harmeet Dhillon, who is now an assistant attorney general in the DOJ, made similar comments when announcing a federal investigation into Washington.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General Dhillon wrote in a news release.
“Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals,” Dhillon stated in early May. “We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.”
Gov. Ferguson has a track record of weaponizing the government against his opponents, including conservative Christians. For example, while serving as attorney general, he threatened prosecution against several of his primary opponents for governor who had a similar name.
He also initiated legally dubious investigations into pro-life nonprofits as attorney general. He additionally supports prosecuting Christians who decline to provide their services to homosexual “weddings.”
A similar effort by Frame died last year, despite having support from the Washington Catholic conference, though not all bishops.
At the time, Frame and the Catholic conference gave contradictory explanations for the bill.
Frame told her colleagues that she wanted to go further and eliminate all exemptions but that such a bill could not pass. Meanwhile, the Catholic conference said it supported this bill because it feared that a law eliminating all exemptions would pass, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
