Mayeux v. Charlet
Annotate this CaseAt the center of this appeal was a district court judgment declaring La. Child. Code art. 609 unconstitutional. La. Child. Code art. 609 required any statutorily defined “mandatory reporter” of child abuse “who has cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare is endangered as a result of abuse,” to report the suspected abuse irrespective of “any claim of privilege.” Specifically, this case raised the issue of whether a priest was a “mandatory reporter,” as defined in La. Child. Code art. 603, when administering the Sacrament of Penance (“confession”), such that the provisions of La. Child. Code art. 609 would require him to report information learned during a sacramental confession. The Louisiana Supreme Court found that the issue here was one of statutory interpretation and should have been resolved on statutory grounds. Accordingly, the Court vacated the district court's declaration of unconstitutionality as premature and remanded this case for further proceedings.
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