Free Republic

A federal judge on Friday blocked a Washington state law requiring Catholic priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including any information they learn from sacramental confession, raising concerns about religious liberty. The law, Senate Bill 5375, was slated to go into effect on July 27, but was blocked Friday after Judge David Estudillo of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a preliminary injunction.

People coming of political age in the last decade or so were no doubt shocked to learn of the Biden administration’s insane plan for saving the northern spotted owl from purported extinction. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for implementing the Endangered Species Act, preserving the owl requires slaughtering nearly half a million barred owls at a cost, opponents say, of $1.3 billion over the next 30 years. That is so, the FWS maintains, because the larger, aggressive barred owl is killing its cousin at a prodigious rate. Perhaps more stunning to these political newcomers is...

The Trump administration is launching a new visa program for migrant workers as farmers and hotel owners express concerns that their labor force is being threatened by the president’s mass deportation raids. The Department of Labor’s newly-created Office of Immigration Policy will help fast track visas for foreign laborers — but the administration has made it clear that the initiative is “not amnesty” for illegal migrant workers, a senior administration official told Axios. “This is not amnesty. It’s not amnesty lite,” the official told the publication. “No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or...

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General has launched a taxpayer-funded hotline in three counties that would allow residents, including foreign nationals and illegal immigrants, to report U.S. citizens for engaging in legally protected speech and activity, in addition to hate crimes. The launch of the hate crimes and bias incidents hotline in King, Clark and Spokane counties occurred almost exactly a year after The Center Square reported that Oregon’s hate crime and bias incident hotline mostly tracks legal activities. Referring to both legal crimes and protected speech, the hotline’s website says “these incidents have a devastating and long-lasting...

The Department of Justice on Monday unveiled a record-shattering crackdown on the corrupt underbelly of America’s health care system. A jaw-dropping 324 defendants — including 96 medical professionals — have been charged in 50 federal districts and 12 states for orchestrating over $14.6 billion in intended fraud, largely targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and federal health programs meant to serve the elderly, disabled, and the poor. The takedown, spearheaded by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit in coordination with HHS-OIG, the FBI, the DEA, and over a dozen state attorney general offices, marks the largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history....

The state of Washington is being sued by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division for violating the First Amendment right of priests to maintain confidentiality in the Confessional. The law, which was signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, is due to go into effect July 27. The Catholic League was the first lay Catholic organization in the nation to write to Washington legislators about this issue. On February 10, I raised the following question to the lawmakers, “What broke?” I specifically asked, “where is the evidence that child molesters—in any state—report their crimes to priests in...

"I think President Trump was wrong. He went against the Constitution." Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, joined Chris Jansing on MSNBC Reports to discuss the legality of President Trump’s move to launch military strikes on Iran.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening following riots against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the downtown area. What began as a daytime demonstration quickly turned volatile, prompting police to deploy smoke grenades and pepper balls near Riverfront Park to disperse agitators. Mayor Brown announced an emergency curfew for downtown Spokane, effective at 9:30 pm on Wednesday and continuing through 5:00 am on Thursday. The curfew applied to the area bounded by Boone Avenue to Spokane Falls Boulevard and Howard Street to Division Street, including Riverfront Park. Exemptions to the curfew included: First...

A day of demonstrations at the Henry M. Jackson Federal building in downtown Seattle ended with protesters removing and burning American flags. The protests started early in the day, around 8 a.m., as protesters barricaded the driveways of the building with rental scooters and bikes. Police did not attempt to remove the barricades or disrupt the protest until later in the evening when officers clashed with groups of protesters near 2nd Ave and Marion Street. Demonstrators approached Seattle police officers who were moving through the area on foot and in vans. Police deployed pepper balls toward the protesters, but the...

Antifa and far-left activists clashed with police in fiery anti-ICE demonstration

Seattle has lost one of its most high-profile tech events due to mounting concerns over public safety and deteriorating conditions in the city’s downtown core. Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer host its annual Build conference in Seattle starting in 2026, citing issues related to rampant homelessness, visible drug use, and urban decay. According to an internal email obtained by journalist Jonathan Choe of the Discovery Institute, Visit Seattle—the city’s official tourism and marketing organization—was informed that Microsoft will cancel its 2026 event and release all future holds for the conference in Seattle. The email, titled “DEFINITE BOOKING...

An Illegal immigrant has been found guilty of a DUI crash that resulted in the death of a state trooper. On Tuesday, a Snohomish County jury found Raul Benitez-Santana, 33, guilty of vehicular assault and vehicular homicide — in connection with the death of Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher Gadd. In March 2024, Gadd, 27, was driving in his cruiser when he was hit by a speeding car going over 100 mph ... Benitez-Santana was under the influence at the time of the crash. He admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before jumping in his vehicle. Benitez-Santana had reportedly...

Three young sisters have been found dead in Washington state after a tense weekend of searching. The sisters – Paityn Decker, 9, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5 – failed to return from a “planned visitation” with their father on Friday, sparking a police canvass involving local detectives, federal officers and a Homeland Security helicopter in Chelan County, Washington. Authorities found their bodies near their father’s car on Monday at 3:45 p.m. around the Rock Island State Park campground in western Washington. The girls’ father, 32-year-old Travis Decker, remains missing and is wanted on suspicion of first-degree murder and...

Ranchers say their hands are tied as reintroduced wolves—listed as endangered—are feasting on cattle instead of hunting elk and deer.. Descendants of rewilded wolves are taking a heavy toll on cattle in Northern California and Oregon, killing calves and full-grown animals and putting stress on cow-calf operations and ranchers’ pocketbooks. Because wolves are listed as an endangered species under state and federal law, ranchers are hamstrung: They can’t shoot or harass these protected predators. The penalty for killing a wolf is steep; federal law carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, unless a rancher...

The Post Millennial has obtained the identities of the violent leftist agitators who were arrested outside of Seattle City Hall on Tuesday while attempting to disrupt a pro-Christian rally. Seattle Police apprehended eight individuals on various criminal charges, including felony assault on a police officer. The defendants include trans activists, a public school teacher, and individuals who have documented involvement with the anarchist extremist group, Antifa. Of the eight people arrested, seven were booked into jail. Their ages range from 19 to 60 years old, and half of the accused live outside of city limits, according to police records obtained...

“Bee” on alert. Roughly 250 million bees escaped into the wild when a commercial semi-truck rolled over in Washington state, prompting officials to warn locals to stay away from the area. The truck was hauling 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives when it overturned in a rural part of Whatcom County, just north of Seattle near the Canadian border, around 4 a.m. Friday, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

Here's your daily update from the Pacific Northwest 👇 Caleb "Haven" Wilvich is a man who likes to wear dresses. Imagine this guy strutting naked around women with the blessing of America's courts: Two years later, a U.S. federal court of appeals has upheld the lower court's ruling that the spa must allow this man to be naked around naked women on their premises. In his dissent, Trump-appointed Judge Kenneth Lee said this: Now, under edict from the state, women — and even girls as young as 13 years old — must be nude alongside patrons with exposed male genitalia...

SEATTLE — A legally armed civilian shot and killed a 16-year-old boy Wednesday night after the teen allegedly opened fire on two people in downtown Seattle, according to police. The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. near First Avenue and Union Street. Police said the teen shot two people before he encountered a 57-year-old man licensed to carry a firearm, who then shot the teen. “One individual produced a weapon, fired on the two individuals and then began to flee the scene,” said Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes. “When he did, he encountered a private citizen that was licensed to...

A series of devastating wolf attacks occurred over Memorial Day weekend at the Lost Marbles Ranch, Crystal River Ranch and McCabe Ranch, leaving two calves dead and others injured. A broad daylight attack at the Lost Marbles Ranch, carried out by three wolves from the notorious Copper Creek pack, took place in the heart of the calving grounds, a large meadow where ranchers actively monitor mothers and newborns during the critical calving season. The wolves separated a cow and a calf from the main herd, severely injuring the calf. While many in the public romanticize the idea of seeing a...

SEATTLE — Some tense moments at the King County Jail Monday. This, as protesters arrested over the weekend appeared before a judge. Nearly two dozen people were arrested Saturday at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. That’s when a rally by a Christian pro-family group turned violent. Now Mayday USA is planning a rally of its own Tuesday, to call for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to resign. KIRO 7 has been pushing to get a response from the mayor. He finally responded late Monday. Just before 5 o’clock this afternoon, a spokesman for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released...