Home›Sources›High Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child AbuseSourcesHigh Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child AbuseArizona MirrorCitation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "High Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child Abuse." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/azmirror-clergy-confession-ruling-2026.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). High Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child Abuse. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/azmirror-clergy-confession-ruling-2026Copy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-high-court-says-churches-not-judges-defi, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {High Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child Abuse}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/azmirror-clergy-confession-ruling-2026}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXAn Arizona Mirror report, published 30 July 2026, on the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling that day in Doe v. Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The court held it is the church's own doctrine, not a judge's independent assessment, that defines what counts as a confession exempt from Arizona's mandatory child-abuse reporting law. The suit originated in Cochise County in 2020, brought by the children of a member who, in a 2011 confession, told his bishop he had abused his five-year-old daughter; the Cochise County Superior Court dismissed the reporting claim against the church and its local officials in 2023, a dismissal the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed.FactsCross-Tradition ConnectionsClaims Backed By This Source (13 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested2Reliability tier 2: a nonprofit statehouse newsroom's (States Newsroom network) same-day account of the court's published opinion, giving the procedural history and the case's Cochise County origin, corroborated by Religion News Service's independent coverage of the same ruling.NotesWell-attestedTier 2: the source for the case's Cochise County origin, the 2023 trial-court dismissal and the 2011 confession date, cross checked against Religion News Service's independent reporting on the same ruling.CitationPublisherWell-attestedArizona Mirror (States Newsroom)Publication YearWell-attested2026URLWell-attestedhttps://azmirror.com/2026/07/30/high-court-says-churches-not-judges-define-a-confession-when-it-comes-to-reporting-child-abuse/Source TypeWell-attestednewsCross-Tradition ConnectionsAssociated WithArizona, States & Territories Well-attested This source names Arizona directly: "An Arizona Mirror report, published 30 July 2026, on the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling that day in Doe v."Source High Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child Abusetier 2Claims Backed By This Source (13 claims)This source backs 13 claims across the atlas. As facts: 10 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds, 1 connected. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicSources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.Well-attested10Abuse Inquiries and Response PoliciesArizona Supreme Court Ruling on the Clergy-Confession Reporting ExemptionSourcesHigh Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child AbuseHolds1SourcesHigh Court Says Churches, Not Judges, Define a "Confession" When It Comes to Reporting Child AbuseConnected1Abuse Inquiries and Response PoliciesArizona Supreme Court Ruling on the Clergy-Confession Reporting ExemptionGeneral References1Abuse Inquiries and Response PoliciesArizona Supreme Court Ruling on the Clergy-Confession Reporting ExemptionComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year