A federal judge on Friday blocked a Washington state law requiring Catholic priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including any information they learn from sacramental confession, raising concerns about religious liberty.

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 granted a preliminary injunction.

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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’s free exercise clause.

“There is no question that SB 5375 burdens Plaintiffs’ 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,” the order from the judge said.

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 “reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.” Failure to comply with the law could be punished by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

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.

The preliminary injunction blocks the state from enforcing the law against all Catholic priests who fall “directly under the administration of” 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.

“For centuries, Catholic faithful around the world have sought reconciliation with God through the sacrament of confession,” Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, said in a statement Friday. “This ruling protects that sacred space and ensures that Washingtonians of all religious stripes can live out their beliefs in peace.”

Attorneys for Washington state officials said the court should not grant the injunction, arguing the law “in no way entangles the State in internal church decisions” and that “the public’s interest in
preventing child abuse outweighs their hypothetical concern of possible religious conflict.”

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.

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The injunction marks a significant victory for religious liberty advocates who had raised concerns about the law as it made its way through the state legislature earlier this year. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division intervened in the case last month, siding with Catholic leaders and arguing that Washington state violated the First and 14th Amendments.

“The Justice Department will not sit idly by when states mount attacks on the free exercise of religion,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said at the time.