Paul D Etienne v Robert Ferguson

On October 14, 2025, based on a stipulated motion by the parties, the Court entered a permanent injunction in Etienne v. Ferguson/United States v. State of Washington (W.D. Wash.), barring enforcement of Senate Bill 5375 law as applied to information disclosed solely in the Catholic Sacrament of Confession and/or other privileged communications made to members of the clergy or Christian Science practitioners.  The law amended Washington’s mandatory reporting law for child abuse and neglect to include Catholic priests as mandatory reporters.  This would have required priests to reveal information they hear in Confession, which would result in their automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church.  On July 15, 2025, the United States filed a complaint in intervention alleging that the State violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by passing this law.