{"id":2463671,"date":"2025-07-18T17:32:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T21:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-blocks-anti-catholic-washington-law\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T17:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T21:33:31","slug":"federal-judge-blocks-anti-catholic-washington-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-blocks-anti-catholic-washington-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge blocks anti-Catholic Washington law"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffederal-judge-blocks-anti-catholic-washington-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2463671&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal judge has blocked a Washington state law, Senate Bill 5375, which required Catholic priests to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >report suspected child abuse<\/a>, including facts revealed during sacramental confession. The law, set to take effect on July 27, was halted after Judge David Estudillo ruled that it likely violates the First Amendment&#8217;s free exercise of religion clause. The law mandated clergy to report reasonable suspicions of child abuse to authorities, with penalties for non-compliance, but conflicted with the Catholic Church&#8217;s doctrine that confession is confidential. The preliminary injunction prevents enforcement of the law against priests under three Washington archbishops who filed the lawsuit, effectively protecting all Catholic priests in the state. Religious liberty advocates hailed the ruling as a protection of religious practices, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-whats-happening-in-the-idaho-abortion-case-at-the-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Latest Updates on Idaho Abortion Case at Supreme Court\">state officials argued<\/a> the law is critically important for preventing child abuse. The Department of Justice intervened, supporting the Catholic Church and emphasizing defense of religious freedom.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Federal judge blocks anti-Catholic Washington law<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2174562\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A federal judge on Friday blocked a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Washington\">Washington<\/a> state law requiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/catholic-church\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Washington\">Catholic<\/a> priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including any information they learn from sacramental confession, raising concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/religious-freedom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"religious liberty\">religious liberty<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The law, Senate Bill 5375, was slated to go into effect on July 27, but was blocked Friday after Judge David Estudillo of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wawd.348728\/gov.uscourts.wawd.348728.227.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"granted\">granted<\/a> a preliminary injunction.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3475949\/obama-officials-spiked-intel-that-cleared-trump-in-2016-declassified-records-show\/\">Obama officials spiked intel that cleared Trump in 2016, declassified records show<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3475836\/at-least-three-dead-los-angeles-explosion-sheriff-training-center\/\">At least three dead in explosion at Los Angeles sheriff&#8217;s training center<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3464932\/conservatives-lawsuits-trump-administration-trade-higher-education-legal-ethics\/\">When the Right sues the Right: Why conservative lawyers are challenging Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Estudillo, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ruled that the Catholic priests and the Justice Department were likely to succeed in their argument that the law violates the First Amendment&rsquo;s free exercise clause.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no question that SB 5375 burdens Plaintiffs&rsquo; free exercise of religion. In situations where Plaintiffs hear confessions related to child abuse or neglect, SB 5375 places them in the position of either complying with the requirements of their faith or violating the law,&rdquo; the order from the judge said.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Bill 5375, signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson (D-WA) in May, requires religious clergy members to tell law enforcement if they have &ldquo;reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.&rdquo; Failure to comply with the law could be punished by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.<\/p>\n<p>The law requires Catholic priests to report what they have heard about potential abuse, including information disclosed during sacramental confession. In the Catholic Church, sharing any information a priest learns during confession is grounds for his excommunication from the church.<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary injunction blocks the state from enforcing the law against all Catholic priests who fall &ldquo;directly under the administration of&rdquo; the three archbishops listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The three archbishops include Paul Etienne of Seattle, Thomas Daly of Spokane, and Joseph Tyson of Yakima, effectively covering all Catholic priests in the state.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For centuries, Catholic faithful around the world have sought reconciliation with God through the sacrament of confession,&rdquo; Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, said in a statement Friday. &ldquo;This ruling protects that sacred space and ensures that Washingtonians of all religious stripes can live out their beliefs in peace.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys for Washington state officials said the court should not grant the injunction, <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wawd.348728\/gov.uscourts.wawd.348728.175.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"arguing\">arguing<\/a> the law &ldquo;in no way entangles the State in internal church decisions&rdquo; and that &ldquo;the public&rsquo;s interest in<br \/>preventing child abuse outweighs their hypothetical concern of possible religious conflict.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>If state officials appeal the preliminary injunction, they would have to take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3463289\/harmeet-dhillon-civil-rights-division-rebuilt-cultural-shift-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"HARMEET DHILLON: CIVIL RIGHTS BEING REBUILT AFTER &lsquo;CULTURAL SHIFT&rsquo; UNDER TRUMP\">HARMEET DHILLON: CIVIL RIGHTS BEING REBUILT AFTER &lsquo;CULTURAL SHIFT&rsquo; UNDER TRUMP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The injunction marks a significant victory for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newsom-backs-down-on-church-crackdown-following-supreme-court-smackdown\/\" title=\"Newsom Backs Down on ... Crackdown Following Supreme Court Smackdown\">religious liberty advocates<\/a> who had raised concerns about the law as it made its way through the state legislature earlier this year. The DOJ&rsquo;s Civil Rights Division&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3451172\/doj-sues-washington-clergy-law-catholic-report-suspected-child-abuse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"intervened\">intervened<\/a> in the case last month, siding with Catholic leaders and arguing that Washington state violated the First and 14th Amendments.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The&nbsp;Justice Department&nbsp;will not sit idly by when states mount attacks on the free exercise of religion,&rdquo; Assistant Attorney General&nbsp;Harmeet Dhillon said at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2174562\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2174562\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge blocks Washington law forcing priests to report confessions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2463672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/catholic-cross-priest-file-photo.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[25316,33740,33791,32274,55850],"class_list":["post-2463671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-anti-catholic","tag-court-ruling","tag-federal-judge","tag-religious-freedom","tag-washington-law"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/catholic-cross-priest-file-photo.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2463671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2463675,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463671\/revisions\/2463675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2463672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2463671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2463671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2463671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}