A just and free society is one in which religious freedom is protected. The Department of Justice‘s decision to investigate a blatantly anti-Catholic law in Washington state is a necessary step toward ensuring the free exercise of religion and eliminating religious discrimination from our nation’s laws.
Signed into law on May 2, 2025, by Gov. Bob Ferguson (D-WA), Senate Bill 5375 mandates that clergy report suspected child abuse or neglect, classifying them as mandatory reporters alongside professionals such as teachers and doctors. The law explicitly denies clergy an exemption for “privileged communication” for information disclosed during the Catholic sacrament of confession. The law provides no exception for the seal of confidentiality and threatens priests who refuse to break the seal of the confessional with up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine.
In a statement on Monday, the DOJ announced that the Civil Rights Division would “investigate the apparent conflict between Washington State’s new law and the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment.”
The Washington law unconstitutionally compels priests to act against their consciences, violating the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. The principle that priest-penitent communications deserve the same privileged confidentiality as attorney-client or doctor-patient communications is well-established in American legal tradition. In 1980, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger addressed this explicitly. In his Trammel v. United States decision, he said, “These privileges are rooted in the imperative need for confidence and trust. 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.”
Washington’s own Supreme Court reinforced this in State v. Motherwell (1990), exempting ordained clergy from mandatory abuse reporting when acting in sacred roles such as confession. The court recognized a 1975 law removing clergy from reporting duties, protecting religious liberty — a precedent SB 5375 now tramples.
The Washington law forces priests to choose between civil law and violating their faith as practiced for millennia. The Catholic Church considers the seal of confession inviolable under Canon Law, with priests facing immediate and automatic excommunication for divulging what they hear during the sacrament. It is no small thing to ask a priest to act against their consciences in this regard. It’s a belief that has been deeply rooted over centuries, and many priests have gone to their deaths defending it, including St. John Nepomuk, who was martyred in 1393 for refusing to divulge confessions. Demanding that priests do so under the penalty of law constitutes an egregious attack on religious liberty.
Ordinary Catholics also come under attack with this law. Perceived cracks in the seal could dissuade Catholics from confessing their sins to a priest, an act they hold as obligatory according to their faith. Catholicism is a unique religion in this regard. Protestants, Jews, and Muslims lack an equivalent to the sacrament of confession. This law explicitly targets Catholics seeking to exercise a core tenet of their faith.
On Monday, DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon underscored the Trump administration’s resolve on the matter:
WASHINGTON STATE DEMANDS PRIESTS BREAK THE SEAL OF THE CONFESSIONAL
“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,” Dillon said. “Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals. We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation.”
Religious liberty is a fundamental right and must be safeguarded. Ferguson, who is a Catholic, should immediately rescind this unconstitutional and discriminatory law. And then he should probably find a priest to talk to in confidence.