The Freedom From Religion Foundation excoriates the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement that it is launching “a First Amendment investigation” into Washington state’s new child protection law.
Senate Bill 5375 ensures that members of the clergy — just like with teachers, doctors and other mandated reporters — are required to report suspected child abuse without special exemptions. The DOJ’s framing of the law as “anti-Catholic” is not only inaccurate but deeply troubling.
In its press release, the DOJ claims the law “demands that Catholic priests violate their deeply held faith” and characterizes this neutral legislation as a violation of the Constitution. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon has charged: “A violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our constitutional system of government.”
Such claims are legally flawed and dismiss the bipartisan and common-sense nature of the legislation. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson — himself a practicing Catholic — who responded directly: “We look forward to protecting Washington kids from sexual abuse in the face of this ‘investigation’ from the Trump administration.”
The FFRF Action Fund, FFRF’s lobbying arm, was instrumental in advocating for the passage of SB 5375, which was approved with bipartisan support and signed into law on May 2. The law closes a longstanding and dangerous loophole that allowed clergy to withhold information about child abuse disclosed in confessional or pastoral settings. Washington is now the seventh state to adopt a clergy reporting law without religious exemptions.
“This law is about protecting children, not targeting religion,” notes FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Mandatory reporting laws are designed to prevent abuse from being hidden behind institutional secrecy. To suggest that clergy should be exempt from reporting child abuse is a gross distortion of religious freedom and a dangerous misreading of the First Amendment.”
The DOJ’s investigation is part of a disturbing trend to redefine “religious freedom” as a license to ignore or even violate laws that protect the vulnerable. The same DOJ that is now fighting to protect clergy secrecy around abuse recently ended a longstanding school desegregation order — evidence that its priorities are dangerously warped.
“The government has a compelling interest in protecting children from abuse,” says FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “This law does not target Christianity or Catholicism — it applies equally to all clergy. Religious freedom does not include the right to conceal abuse. The DOJ’s position undermines both child safety and the Constitution it purports to defend.”
FFRF urges the DOJ to immediately drop this politically motivated and legally unsound investigation. Protecting children from harm must be a priority that transcends religious boundaries. It is not anti-Christian to hold clergy accountable — it is pro-child, pro-justice and pro-human rights.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
