Confessional Privilege (United States)

In United States law, confessional privilege is a rule of evidence that forbids the inquiry into the content or even existence of certain communications between clergy and church members.

It grows out of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the common law, and statutory enactments which may vary between jurisdictions.

All fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government have enacted statutory privileges providing that at least some communications between clergyman and parishioners are privileged.

Prior to the adoption of statutory protections, there was some protection under common law.

There is also Smith's case reported in the "New York City Hall Recorder", vol. II, p. 77, which, apparently, was decided in the same way.

The privilege is defined in over 50 separate statutes and may therefore vary in important ways:

The Child Welfare Information Gateway states that the privilege of maintaining this confidentiality under State law must be provided by statute. Most States provide for clergy-penitent privilege within rules of evidence or civil procedure.

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