Latest news with #U.S.DepartmentofJusticeCivilRightsDivision
Miami Herald
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Law requiring clergy to report child abuse anti-Catholic, DOJ claims
SALT LAKE CITY, May 22 (UPI) -- A new Washington state law that requires members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect, including when the information is revealed in confession, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The DOJ claims the law is anti-Catholic and appears on its face to violate the First Amendment. The investigation, which was announced earlier this month, will look at the development and passage of Senate Bill 5375. The bill, which adds clergy members to the list of mandatory reporters, was passed by the Senate in a 28-20 vote and 64-31 by the House. It was signed into law May 2 by Gov. Bob Ferguson and is to go into effect July 27. A DOJ news release says the law has no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality that applies to Catholic priests. "SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in the release. "Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals," Dhillon said. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, disputes those claims and said the law is not anti-Catholic. She pointed out that members of the clergy are defined as a licensed, accredited or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder or similarly situated religious or spiritual leader of any church, religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community or sect. Mandated reporters include law enforcement officers, professional school personnel, social service counselors, nurses, psychologists and licensed childcare providers, among others. If they have reasonable cause to believe a child has suffered abuse or neglect, they are required to report that to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Under the new law, clergy members must report abuse, but cannot be compelled to testify against the penitent in a court case or criminal proceedings. "We are talking in our case here about really simply just the reporting in real time of known or suspected abuse and neglect of children in real time," Frame said. "We're simply saying, if you believe or you know that a child is actively being abused or neglected, call it in so we can go check on that child to make sure that they are safe." Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Archdiocese of Seattle descibted the the law as government overreach. After the apostles were thrown into jail for preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responded, "We must obey God rather than men," he said in a written statement. "This is our stance now in the face of this new law," Etienne said. "Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession -- or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the church." The Catholic Church in the United States has been reporting incidents of abuse to law enforcement and cooperating with civil authorities for decades, according to Etienne. Those efforts began in 1986 in the Seattle Archdiocese, he said. "Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession," Etienne said. Frame countered that voluntarily complying with part of the law does not make priests mandatory reporters. "They may be if they are a teacher, for instance, but they are not mandatory reporters in their role as clergy," she said. "And to say that we're already mandated reporters has caused great confusion such that people think the only point of this bill was to 'go after confession.' Not true." The senator has been trying since 2022 to pass legislation to make clergy mandatory reporters. Articles by Investigative West about how a Jehovah's Witnesses community in Washington allegedly was covering up sexual abuse of children spurred her effort. The nonprofit news organization reported the community was handling complaints internally and abuse was not being addressed. Frame, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a family member from ages 5 to 10, said children need to know that if they ask a trusted adult such as a faith leader for help, they'll get it. "I told the mandated reporter about the abuse and that's how it was stopped, and that was my teacher," she said. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocated for passage of SB 5375 through its FFRF Action Fund lobbying arm, said the law closes a longstanding and dangerous loophole that allowed clergy to withhold information about child abuse. "FFRF urges the DOJ to immediately drop this politically motivated and legally unsound investigation," the organization said in a news release. "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." Other states that do not have an exemption for penitential communication as of May 2023 are New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway. The Utah Legislature passed a bill last year that does not make clergy mandated reporters, but protects them from civil and criminal liability if they report ongoing abuse or neglect even if the information came from a penitent during confession. Utah Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns, said he sponsored House Bill 432 after constituents reached out to him. Some religious organizations had implemented their own reporting requirements, but the protection from liability applied only to mandated reporters, which did not include clergy, he said. Members of the clergy like having this option, Loubet said. "This made it clear that they could report if they wanted to and if they did, they received the protection," he said. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Law requiring clergy to report child abuse anti-Catholic, DOJ claims
SALT LAKE CITY, May 22 (UPI) -- A new Washington state law that requires members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect, including when the information is revealed in confession, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The DOJ claims the law is anti-Catholic and appears on its face to violate the First Amendment. The investigation, which was announced earlier this month, will look at the development and passage of Senate Bill 5375. The bill, which adds clergy members to the list of mandatory reporters, was passed by the Senate in a 28-20 vote and 64-31 by the House. It was signed into law May 2 by Gov. Bob Ferguson and is to go into effect July 27. A DOJ news release says the law has no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality that applies to Catholic priests. "SB 5375 demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in the release. "Worse, the law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals," Dhillon said. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, disputes those claims and said the law is not anti-Catholic. She pointed out that members of the clergy are defined as a licensed, accredited or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder or similarly situated religious or spiritual leader of any church, religious denomination, religious body, spiritual community or sect. Mandated reporters include law enforcement officers, professional school personnel, social service counselors, nurses, psychologists and licensed childcare providers, among others. If they have reasonable cause to believe a child has suffered abuse or neglect, they are required to report that to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Under the new law, clergy members must report abuse, but cannot be compelled to testify against the penitent in a court case or criminal proceedings. "We are talking in our case here about really simply just the reporting in real time of known or suspected abuse and neglect of children in real time," Frame said. "We're simply saying, if you believe or you know that a child is actively being abused or neglected, call it in so we can go check on that child to make sure that they are safe." Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Archdiocese of Seattle descibted the the law as government overreach. After the apostles were thrown into jail for preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responded, "We must obey God rather than men," he said in a written statement. "This is our stance now in the face of this new law," Etienne said. "Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession -- or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the church." The Catholic Church in the United States has been reporting incidents of abuse to law enforcement and cooperating with civil authorities for decades, according to Etienne. Those efforts began in 1986 in the Seattle Archdiocese, he said. "Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession," Etienne said. Frame countered that voluntarily complying with part of the law does not make priests mandatory reporters. "They may be if they are a teacher, for instance, but they are not mandatory reporters in their role as clergy," she said. "And to say that we're already mandated reporters has caused great confusion such that people think the only point of this bill was to 'go after confession.' Not true." The senator has been trying since 2022 to pass legislation to make clergy mandatory reporters. Articles by Investigative West about how a Jehovah's Witnesses community in Washington allegedly was covering up sexual abuse of children spurred her effort. The nonprofit news organization reported the community was handling complaints internally and abuse was not being addressed. Frame, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a family member from ages 5 to 10, said children need to know that if they ask a trusted adult such as a faith leader for help, they'll get it. "I told the mandated reporter about the abuse and that's how it was stopped, and that was my teacher," she said. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocated for passage of SB 5375 through its FFRF Action Fund lobbying arm, said the law closes a longstanding and dangerous loophole that allowed clergy to withhold information about child abuse. "FFRF urges the DOJ to immediately drop this politically motivated and legally unsound investigation," the organization said in a news release. "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." Other states that do not have an exemption for penitential communication as of May 2023 are New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway. The Utah Legislature passed a bill last year that does not make clergy mandated reporters, but protects them from civil and criminal liability if they report ongoing abuse or neglect even if the information came from a penitent during confession. Utah Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns, said he sponsored House Bill 432 after constituents reached out to him. Some religious organizations had implemented their own reporting requirements, but the protection from liability applied only to mandated reporters, which did not include clergy, he said. Members of the clergy like having this option, Loubet said. "This made it clear that they could report if they wanted to and if they did, they received the protection," he said.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Transgender teacher sues Pinellas schools, claims pronoun discrimination
A former Pinellas County schools transgender teacher claims he was forced to resign because of the school district's implementation of Florida's 2023 law restricting the use of preferred pronouns. Toby Tobin last week filed a federal lawsuit alleging the district discriminated against him on the basis of sex, in violation of a recent Supreme Court ruling on federal Title VII guidelines. The suit follows other administrative efforts to find the district violated Tobin's rights by refusing to call him Mr. Tobin after the law took effect. Those steps included a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The department showed interest in the case, said Gabe Roberts, Tobin's lawyer with the Scott Law Team. 'However, after the election (of President Donald Trump), that interest went away.' The department granted Tobin the right to pursue a civil lawsuit. Though now living with his family outside Florida and working without such limitations, Tobin said he felt compelled to fight the law. 'I can either just stay quiet and just let it happen, or I can show my son there's always another way, there's always another option,' said Tobin, who worked as a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Cross Bayou Elementary for two years. 'You don't just give up.' A spokesperson for the school district said the district does not comment on pending litigation. Other agencies listed as defendants, including the Florida Department of Education, did not respond to a request for comment. Tobin's case is another in a string of disputes that have arisen because of the hotly debated law. Earlier this month, a Brevard County teacher made headlines after she lost her job over using a student's preferred pronouns without parental permission. The Southern Poverty Law Center has an active lawsuit challenging the law, also in federal court. When he originally took a job with the school district in 2021, Tobin said he was open about being a transgender male. 'I was hired as Mr. Tobin,' he said. 'They had no problem with it.' Only after the Legislature adopted the law on pronouns did trouble arise. The law stated that when it comes to public schools, a person's sex is an 'immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's sex.' School employees were prohibited from asking students to call them by such pronouns, and students were not to be required to use them. The State Board of Education then updated its rules to make violation of that law subject to discipline under the educators' Principles of Professional Conduct. Anticipating how the school district would react, Tobin took several steps to avoid using 'Mr.' while not being forced to misgender himself as 'Ms.' He purchased a plot of land in Scotland to take on the title of 'Lord.' The district said he couldn't be referred to as Lord Tobin. He became a minister of the Universal Life Church, and made a donation to the Principality of Sealand to become a count. 'I teach math and science, and I'd be Count Tobin,' he said. 'The district said, 'This is not appropriate. You have to be Ms. Tobin.'' With his son attending school at Cross Bayou in Pinellas Park, and having just bought a home a year earlier, Tobin, 30, had planned to settle down in the community where he had so many close relationships. But it became clear, he said, that the state laws had created a situation where he could not be himself and keep his job. 'Effectively I was forced out,' said Tobin, who worked until July 1, 2023 — the day the pronoun rule became law. 'As sole provider for my family, we wound up having to flee Florida.' Roberts said he expected the district and state to ask the judge to dismiss the case, on the basis that the law is legal. 'Obviously we disagree with that,' he said. 'We expect to prevail on the litigation for the simple reason that what schools are doing to teachers like Toby is against federal law.' He pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 ruling of Bostock vs. Clayton County, in which a six-justice majority penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, determined it to be a violation of Title VII if an employer 'intentionally penalizes an employee for being homosexual or transgender.' Roberts also argued that the law violates free speech and privacy rights. In the aftermath of leaving his job, Tobin wrote a self-published children's book, 'Call Me Mr. Tobin,' to let his students know why he left. He said he didn't emphasize the gender issues as much as encourage the children to use their problem solving skills and remain true to themselves. That's all he said he was doing while in the classroom. 'Transgender people such as myself are not teaching gender ideology in the classroom,' Tobin said.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rural Alabamians Lived With Poop-Filled Water for Decades. Trump Just Killed Plans For Relief.
Last April, Sherry Bradley and the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program helped rural Alabama resident Willie Perryman install a septic system in his home for the first time. Since his grandfather purchased the land and homestead more than six decades ago, none of the family's properties had a proper disposal system for their waste. Thousands of families across rural America don't have the financial means to run a proper septic system, and many homes are not connected to municipal sewage systems. Perryman used a 'straight-pipe' method to carry sewage away from his house, where it was then dumped into open ground on the property. That meant for generations, his family lived among the stench and bacteria of their own waste. 'My yard is awful,' Perryman, 70, said at the time. 'But I'm thankful for BBUWP trying to help.' Bradley's organization was able to help Perryman in part due to former President Joe Biden's emphasis on environmental justice. Under his leadership, the federal government granted her organization $14 million to help people in rural Alabama install more efficient waste systems. Her organization also collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from other state and federal agencies. The financial support came after a federal investigation found the state knowingly allowed Black residents to face the raw sewage crisis. For decades, residents complained. When it rained, raw sewage would flood their yards and bubble up their sinks, causing terrible smells and sights. The investigation marked the first time that the federal government finished an environmental justice inquiry using the Civil Rights Act of 1964. At the time, Kristen Clarke, the first Black woman to lead the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, said this was a 'new chapter for Black residents of Lowndes County, Alabama, who have endured health dangers, indignities, and racial injustice for far too long.' But two years later, this 'new chapter' for nationwide racial and environmental justice has become more of a footnote. Last week, in an unprecedented move, the Trump administration said it would reverse the civil rights settlement. The agreement had forced Alabama to stop using strict sanitation laws that punished poor residents with fines or jail time when they could not afford to fix their sewage problems. It also included plans for public health education and repairs. At the same time, the Biden administration gave millions of dollars to local organizations to speed up the process of installing new septic systems in the county. But when ending the agreement, the Trump administration called this work 'illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.' The DOJ said it was 'working quickly' to close other civil rights investigations brought by residents across the country claiming they were being disproportionately exposed to environmental issues like air and water pollution because of their race, religion, sex, or national origin. 'We have heard from people throughout rural America where their systems are failing. The soil does not discriminate there. There's no DEI in soil.' Catherine Coleman Flowers, founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice The Alabama Department of Public Health, which was mandated to follow through on the improvements outlined in the agreement, said it will keep working with local partners to install septic systems as long as current funding lasts, but after that, it can only offer technical support since 'the installation of sanitation systems and related infrastructure is outside the authority or responsibilities conferred upon ADPH by state law,' according to ADPH spokesman Ryan Easterling. For residents, this means that while some help may continue in the short term, the long-term outlook for fixing sewage problems is uncertain and will depend on future funding and outside organizations stepping in to fill the gap. But under the Trump administration, federal and philanthropic support for environmental organizations has dwindled. Bradley, who created the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program after retiring from the ADPH, told Inside Climate News that she is not sure what that means for the future of her work. Her organization has already helped more than 100 rural families install new septic tanks, which carry a price tag upward of $20,000. Still, there are hundreds of more families that have signed up for help. An estimated 80% of residents in Alabama's Black Belt are not connected to municipal sewage lines. Because of high poverty rates, many are forced to rely on private waste management systems that frequently fail due to the region's impermeable clay soil. Many households still use outdated straight-pipe systems, which discharge untreated sewage directly into yards, creating severe public health risks. The cost of installing a compliant private system ranging from $5,000 to $22,000 is out of reach for most, as nearly one-third of the region's residents live in poverty, which is why federal support was so necessary. This lack of adequate wastewater infrastructure has led to widespread exposure to raw sewage, with a 2017 study in one county finding that 73% of residents had sewage inside their homes and one-third tested positive for hookworm, a disease thought to be eradicated in the U.S. Residents told Capital B they have already felt positive impacts from the 2-year-old civil rights agreement and believe there is momentum for the work to continue without federal support, as long as there is funding from other sources. Catherine Coleman Flowers, who founded the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and is often credited with bringing Alabama's sewage problems to national recognition, agreed, but said she is most concerned about Alabama potentially reinstating its old policies. 'With the agreement in place, there were no arrests. People tend to forget that when I started doing this work back in 2002, they were actually arresting people who could not afford working septic systems,' she said. 'I pray that does not happen again — they don't criminalize people, as opposed to trying to help them find meaningful solutions to treat wastewater, to protect their health and the public health as well.' She emphasized that the future now depends on whether funding will continue: 'I'm concerned about that, and hopefully the funding that has come through other agencies will not be taken away to prevent people from receiving systems.' She added that without federal oversight, she is afraid that local officials or program leaders might use leftover funding for purposes other than it was intended, an issue the county faced before. Flowers also pointed out that the problem is not unique to Alabama: 'We have heard from people throughout rural America where their systems are failing. The soil does not discriminate there. There's no DEI in soil.' She called for a national commitment to finding a sustainable solution, warning that heavier rains are making individual septic systems obsolete. The move adds to Trump's sweeping attack on environmental justice initiatives since returning to office. Last month, the EPA closed its environmental justice and 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' offices at the direction of Trump. Environmental justice is a term used to describe policies meant to lower the disproportionate environmental threats that lower income and minority communities face. The administration has also rolled back environmental regulations meant to protect residents from pollution-induced health issues — and the country's natural environment, like waterways and forests, from being destroyed. In addition, it has fired hundreds of scientists tasked with crafting these regulations and tracking the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events like hurricanes, heat waves, and wildfires. The post Rural Alabamians Lived With Poop-Filled Water for Decades. Trump Just Killed Plans For Relief. appeared first on Capital B News.
