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USCCB files brief in suit challenging Washington Confession law
July 29, 2025
» Continue to this story on USCCB
CWN Editor's Note: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops filed an amicus curiae [friend of the court] brief in Etienne v. Ferguson, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 5375. a Washington state law that requires clergy to violate the seal of Confession when child abuse or neglect is confessed.
After recalling St. John Nepomucene, who suffered martyrdom rather than violate the seal of Confession, the brief stated:
As a court in the Western District of Washington recently held, this affront to a core tenet and essential practice of the Catholic faith blatantly violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as binding Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent.The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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