The Arizona Supreme Court earlier this month ruled a clergy member was allowed to keep information gathered during a confession confidential and was not required to alert law enforcement. The case involved a Bisbee man who confessed to a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church that he sexually abused his young daughters, one of whom was an infant at the time. The bishop did not tell police, and church officials told the bishop to keep the confession confidential.
So, what does the law say when it comes to confessional privilege, and how does this case fit into that?
With The Show to help answer those questions is Marci Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and CEO of Child USA.
