Last week, the law requires clergy members to report child abuse or neglect confessions last week, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the initial amendment, so the law requires clergy members to report child abuse or neglect confessions last week.
The new Evergreen State law adds “Clergy Members” to the list of experts who are required to report confessions related to child abuse or neglect, information obtained to law enforcement or other state authorities.
According to the DOJ, the law does not provide an exception to the absolute confidentiality seal that applies to Catholic priests.
The DOJ also said that he is single as the only “supervisor” who cannot rely on applicable legal privileges such as religious confessions as a reason why the state’s new laws do not report “members of the clergy” as mandatory orders.
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Washington has signed a law requiring clergy to report child abuse or neglect that they have learned through confessions. (istock)
The DOJ Civil Rights Division is investigating whether Washington’s law violates religious protections provided under the First Amendment.
The First Amendment states that “Congress shall not enact laws that respect the establishment of religion or prohibit free exercises.
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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill last week, requiring clergy members to report child abuse and neglect they learned through confessional environments and did not offer exemptions. (Getty Images)
“SB 5375 requires Catholic priests to infringe their deep faith in order to comply with the law, and violations of the constitution and the religious freedom movement cannot stand under the constitutional system of the government.” “In addition, this law appears to elect clergy because it does not have the right to assert applicable privileges compared to other reporting experts. We take this issue very seriously and look forward to working with the Washington State investigation.”
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Ferguson, who signed the bill on May 2nd, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the issue of Fox News Digital.
Seattle’s Fox 13 reported that the bill will come into effect on July 26th.
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The station also reported that the federal government report indicates that Washington is one of five states that do not expressly or implicitly require clergy to report suspected or neglect of child abuse. He has joined a handful of states, including West Virginia and New Hampshire, which do not offer such exemptions, but he added that most states have exempted information they learned through confessions from mandatory reporting.
Greg Wehner is a news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to greg.wehner @fox.com and Twitter @gregwehner.
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