BREAKING: Federal court blocks Washington law targeting seal of confession
July 18, 2025
WASHINGTON – A federal court today blocked a new Washington state law that would have forced Catholic priests to face jail time unless they broke the sacred seal of confession. The law at issue in Etienne v. Ferguson, which was set to take effect on July 27, required clergy to report abuse shared within the sacred confines of the confessional. WilmerHale and co-counsel Becket and First Liberty Institute represent the lead plaintiffs Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson, and Bishop Thomas A. Daly, who filed an initial lawsuit earlier this summer.