Don't Cut Out the Spiritual Middle Man

Today the Sixth Circuit entered an opinion in an interesting state habeas case out of Michigan. The case involved Janniss Varner, who was convicted of arranging a failed hit on her abusive boyfriend. Two years later, the boyfriend was murdered (not by Varner, presumably). During the investigation, investigators searching the boyfriend's home found some journals belonging to Varner:

The journals identified the gunman of the 1995 shooting and disclosed Varner’s responsibility for arranging the attempted murder. The journals also revealed that Knight had raped, choked and abused her in the past and noted that, two days prior to the shooting, '[h]e raped me and tied me up for three hours.' Her entries also expressed her wish that Knight had died in 1995, her lack of remorse for her actions and her determination to kill him in the future. The entries often were addressed 'Dear God,' sometimes contained prayers of supplication and thanks, ('Lord, give me guidance and insight concerning what I need to do . . . .'); ('Lord I do thank you for helping me. God I thank you for saving me and keeping me in my right mind.'), and in places expressed her disillusionment with organized religion and church services.

(citations omitted). At trial, Varner creatively tried to have these inculpatory journals excluded by claiming that they were confidential religious statements made directly to God. Michigan's version of the priest-penitent privilege applies only to statements made to some sort of religious intermediary - priest, pastor, rabbi, etc. - not statements made directly to God. That law violated the First Amendment and therefore should be extended to cover Varner's statements.

The Sixth Circuit wasn't buying (in line with the other courts involved), concluding:

The privilege requires the communication to be directed to a member of the clergy—just as the other privileges require the communication to be directed to an attorney or doctor—because it is the clergy who may be subpoenaed to testify against the individual. The same possibility does not exist with private writings to God, who may be petitioned but never subpoenaed.

So there you have it, kids - that personal relationship with God/Jesus/The Flying Spaghetti Monster is all well and good, but if you're going to confess to a crime, find a His secretary to take notes!