By justina colmena ~biz in religion —

Are Catholics unfairly targeted?

Are there too many child molesters locked up in a confession booth?

DOJ sues Washington state over law forcing priests to break confession seal
The DOJ in a press release announcing the lawsuit filed on June 23 said the Washington law “violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics.”
Catholic News AgencyCNA

I don't know any of those priests.

If people want to confess sins, they shouldn't hesitate, to anyone reasonably trustworthy on such matters. Are defense attorneys as well as priests required to report suspected child abuse?

Is this religious confession wiretapped or recorded and introduced in court as evidence? Or are the reports of suspected abuse accepted in court as hearsay?

There is no good legal avenue for any sort of religious confession (private or even open) to make its way into court as evidence for prosecution. It doesn't pass the legal bar and it's not something anybody should be concerned about going to church in sane times.

The Protestant approach of avoiding excessive formality of making confession is probably better for a number of practical as well as religious reasons: to freely admit guilt in any or all sins and not be prosecuted for them.

These are apparently not sane times where this is generally possible however.