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Members of the Roman Catholic clergy in Washington, backed by the Trump administration, won a victory in court last Friday as they seek to dismantle a controversial aspect of a state law meant to curb child sex abuse.
U.S. District Judge David Estudillo granted the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction on Friday, placing a hold on Senate Bill 5375, a law that requires faith leaders to report instances of child abuse relayed to them, including Catholic priests who hear such admissions during confessions. The law was set to go into effect on July 27.
The Trump administration last month joined the legal fight to overturn the law, which it describes as "anti-Catholic," suing Washington state and Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson. The governor, who is Catholic, has defended the law and said he's "disappointed" in the Church for seeking to block it. A hearing in the Trump administration's request for a separate preliminary injunction is set for this week, the Washington State Standard reported.
Proponents of the law say it doesn't single out Catholics, given that the mandatory reporting requirement includes ministers, priests, rabbis, imams, elders or a “spiritual leader of any church, religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community or sect,” as well as school employees and health care workers.
But Estudillo, a Biden appointee, said the law’s requirement regarding confessionals infringes upon priests’ First Amendment rights. He noted that roughly 25 other states have carved out exceptions for the confessional in their mandatory reporting laws and called Washington’s exemptions for other professions “likely fatal to SB 5375.”
To me, there’s scant evidence that the law — which was created in response to abuse allegations among Jehovah's Witnesses — is anti-Catholic, and ample evidence that the law is simply anti-sex abuse. And the Trump administration’s attempt to undercut it fit a disturbing pattern of undermining efforts to combat sex abuse.