DOJ launches investigation into new state law that requires clergy to report suspected child abuse

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a new Washington law that designates members of the clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse.

The law, which passed out of the Legislature this session, was signed Friday by Gov. Bob Ferguson and is set to take effect on July 27. Washington is one of five states that currently does not designate clergy as mandatory reporters.

Under state law, a variety of other professions that frequently interact with children, including police officers, nurses and school personnel, are required to report incidents of suspected abuse within 48 hours, with failure to do so considered a gross misdemeanor.

Legislators have considered adding clergy to the list of mandatory reporters in recent years, though the efforts stalled. The legislation does not include an exemption for the information learned during penitential communication, or communication between clergy and a congregation member, such as in the confession of sins.

On Monday, the Department of Justice said the new law “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment.”

“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 Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “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.”

The bill passed along near-party lines in the Senate in February, with two Democrats joining all Republicans in voting against the legislation. It found some support among Republicans during a vote in the House of Representatives, with five members joining with the chamber’s Democrats in supporting the proposal.

As he signed the bill into law on Friday, Ferguson said the legislation “protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm.”

A Catholic, Ferguson said his uncle served as a Jesuit priest “for many, many, many years here in the Pacific Northwest.”

“I obviously have a personal perspective on this,” Ferguson said. “But protecting our kids first is the most important thing.”

Ferguson added that the need for the law was “very clear” and that it was “very important legislation.”

Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, the bill’s sponsor, introduced similar legislation in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, a proposal that did not contain an exemption for confidential penitential communication failed. The version proposed by Frame last year would have established a “duty to warn” for abuse disclosed in penitential communication, though that, too, failed.

Ahead of the vote in the Senate, Frame told lawmakers that the bill is about “checking on the child.”

“This is about making sure we, the state, have the information we need to go make sure that kid is OK,” Frame said. “What our mandatory reporter laws do is, it compels our Department of Children, Youth and Families or law enforcement to further investigate and substantiate that report, but in the meantime, make sure that child is safe.”

Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, voted against the proposal, saying on the Senate floor that the bill could ultimately put “pastors in prison.”

“It sets up the legal framework to put pastors in prison,” Christian said. “But not for their actions, per se, but rather because of knowledge they may have gained in their job. It’s a very slippery slope.”

According to the Department of Justice, the investigation will be led by the agency’s Civil Rights Division.